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| Chinese Hospital Ship Peace Ark |
By Shannon Tiezzi
Disaster relief is an increasingly important mission for China’s armed forces, both domestically and abroad.
As China continues to deal with the aftermath of the Yunnan earthquake, the People’s Liberation Army has been at the forefront of the relief efforts: spearheading rescue missions, clearing out debris, and rebuilding roads. Using this as a case study, Xinhua declared that “The military is not established solely for the purpose of conducting wars, at least not in China.”
China’s military modernization over the last decade is discussed mostly in the context of China’s new military technologies. However, nontraditional military functions (including humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, or HA/DR) have also been a major priority. Rescue and disaster relief were added to the PLA training regimen in 2002. Two years later, Hu Jintao’s vision for the PLA’s “new historic missions” included an emphasis on HA/DR. In a 2013 white paper on China’s armed forces, the State Council listed military operations other than war (MOOTW) as the PLA’s third priority, after “safeguarding national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity” and “aiming to win local wars.”
Domestically, China frequently suffers from earthquakes, floods, landslides, and other natural disasters. As the 2013 white paper put it, China’s armed forces (including the PLA and the paramilitary People’s Armed Police Force or PAPF) “have always acted as the shock force in emergency rescue and disaster relief.” In the past decade, China has placed more of an emphasis on solidifying the organizational and logistical aspects of disaster relief efforts to ensure a quicker and more robust response. Xinhua noted that the additional focus on HA/DR, including increased drills and spending, paid off with a “more swift and efficient” response to the Yunnan earthquake.
Read the full story at The Diplomat