China's Xi urges preparedness for military combat amid coronavirus epidemic

Beijing - 'China's performance in fighting the new coronavirus has shown the success of military reform'

President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday China would step up its preparedness for armed combat and improve its ability to carry out military tasks as the coronavirus pandemic is having a profound impact on national security, state television reported.
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China's performance in fighting the new coronavirus has shown the success of military reform, Xi was quoted as saying, adding that the armed forces should explore new ways of training amid the pandemic.

Xi, who chairs China's Central Military Commission, made the comments when attending a plenary meeting of the delegation of the People's Liberation Army and People's Armed Police Force on the sidelines of the annual session of parliament.
Xi heard speeches by military deputies on fulfilling epidemic control tasks, strengthening training amid the epidemic, and accelerating capacity building on biosecurity defense, among others.
Commending their role in battling Covid-19, Xi said the people's armed forces have once again proven themselves to be heroic forces that can be fully trusted by the Party and the people.
He ordered the military to think about worst-case scenarios, scale up training and battle preparedness, promptly and effectively deal with all sorts of complex situations and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests.
Xi demanded reform and innovation to address new situations and problems exposed in the epidemic and ordered accelerating the research and development on Covid-19 drugs and vaccines by tapping the advantages of military medical research.
Noting that this year marks the end of the 13th five-year plan for military development, Xi said extraordinary measures must be taken to overcome the impact of the epidemic to ensure major tasks on the military building are achieved.
Xi said every penny must be well spent to produce maximum results.

• India