Illustration: Chen Xia/GT
Forging Ahead, a five-episode documentary on China's military development, is currently airing on state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV). With rare footage of cutting-edge technologies - from an intercontinental missile launch and a trial on aircraft carrier Fujian to drone swarms teaming up with robotic wolves in a coordinated battlefield exercise - the series has quickly captured public attention at home and abroad. More than just a showcase of advanced equipment, the documentary offers a full picture of the modernization journey of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and sends a clear message that a stronger Chinese military ensures a more peaceful world.
The prominent features shown in the series are concrete indicators of the PLA's enhanced combat capabilities, combining with its ideological development and strategic transformation. It is this comprehensive presentation that has made the series a focal point of domestic and international interest. Military expert Song Zhongping told the Global Times that Forging Ahead provides the international audience with a window into the real progress and capabilities of China's military, while at home, it serves as both a high-quality educational program on national defense and a powerful tool for patriotic education.
In fact, China's military has become an increasingly important force in maintaining regional and world peace. Nevertheless, some Western media have long labeled China's military progress as "muscle-flexing" or "provocative." Such narratives are nothing more than a projection of anxiety over China's comprehensive rise.
However, the direction of China's military development has always been clear. As Beijing has repeatedly emphasized, the growth of China's defense capabilities amplifies the force for peace in the world. Military expert Zhang Junshe explains this from two perspectives: First, China consistently upholds a national defense policy that is defensive in nature. Second, as China's military power grows, so too does its share of global responsibility. China's defense expenditure as a share of GDP has been kept under 1.5 percent for many years, lower than the global average. At the same time, China continues to provide more public security goods to the international community.
China's military development is not driven by "expansion" or "confrontation," but by its commitment to safeguarding our national sovereignty, security and development interests as well as a sense of responsibility to uphold international peace and stability. The country advocates good-neighborly relations and maintains a restrained posture in regional and global security affairs, always striving for peaceful resolution of disputes.
According to Song, it is this strategic culture that guides the PLA's development around the principle of "subduing the enemy without fighting." The PLA aims to serve as a strong pillar for the country's peaceful and stable development through robust combat capabilities and logistics support. For this reason, China's growing military power is a responsible form of strength - one that contributes to the construction of a peaceful and stable world order.
No matter what kind of external attention, distortion, or smearing China faces, the country will remain focused on managing its own affairs well. As the current international situation has shown: Without a strong national defense, there can be no national security, and without security, there can be no stable environment for development.
The Chinese military will continue to forge ahead - not only to safeguard China itself, but also contribute more strength for stability, peace and cooperation in the region and beyond.
