File photo shows the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force conducting a joint combat patrol mission in the South China Sea. [Photo/Xinhua] Policy system crucial for building stronger force, combat capability President Xi Jinping has called for the military to reform its policy system to form a solid foundation in order to build a world-class force. Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said that a systemic and deep reform is urgently needed to resolve deeply rooted conflicts and problems inside the policy system, extensively strengthen the effects of the ongoing military reforms, open a new chapter in Chinese armed forces' development, and obtain the upper hand among world powers as well as in any future wars. Xi said reform of the military's policy system must be based on the Party's absolute leadership over the armed forces and its focus on improving combat capability. It should help stimulate enthusiasm, initiative and creativity among military personnel, he said. The president made the remarks at a Central Military Commission meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday in Beijing that discussed reforming the military's policy system. All of the military's top commanders took part in the meeting. Party-building inside the military will be further improved to ensure the Party has total control over the armed forces, Xi said. He ordered the military to establish regulatory mechanisms on joint operations, fine-tune combat-readiness system, and set up a modern institution that governs the use of military forces, he added. Xi stressed that the military's human resources system should be optimized. He ordered that incomes and benefits of military personnel be elevated. Changes should be made in policies in almost all areas, ranging from training, equipment and logistics to research and mobilization. The ultimate goal is to boost the Chinese military's combat capability, he said. Xi also requested that the military's budget management, resources allocation and legislative affairs should be improved to facilitate its growth. He asked the military to mete out reform measures that are badly needed in combat training or have been long-awaited by the troops. wristbands for eventsrubber band bracelets
BEIJING --?China's international tsunami warning center has opened, serving countries bordering on the South China Sea, oceanic officials announced Thursday.The center, built and managed by China, monitors major earthquake subduction zones -- where the Earth's plates converge -- in the South China, Sulu and Sulawesi seas and provides 24-hour uninterrupted warning services, said Wang Hua, a State Oceanic Administration (SOA) official.The South China Sea region is prone to tsunamis and littoral countries have, until now, relied on services provided by American and Japanese warning centers.The warning center was proposed in 2009. In 2013, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (IOC/UNESCO) approved an SOA plan.Wang said the center was the result of practical maritime cooperation between countries around the South China Sea.Yuan Ye, director of the National Tsunami Warning Center, said China is now capable of warning the public of a tsunami eight to ten minutes after an earthquake.In 1897, a tsunami caused by an earthquake in the northern Sulu Sea killed more than 100 people. An earthquake measuring 8.0 magnitude in the Sulawesi Sea in 1976 resulted in nearly 8,000 deaths in the Phillipines.More than 80 percent of tsunamis occur in the Pacific.Numerical simulation shows that if a 8.5-magnitude earthquake hit the Manila Trench in the north, the tsunami it triggered would have severe effects in the Phillipines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and south China's coastal areas, said Yu Fujiang, director of the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center.China will hold trainings and provide tsunami warnings for countries surrounding the South China Sea, Wang said.
