Foreign news

Anniversary 93: Taking the measure of the PLA

Published

5 years ago

August 3, 2020

I’m Robert Lawrence Kuhn and here’s what I’m watching: the People’s Liberation Army, the PLA, on its 93rd anniversary, taking its measure over the past year. But how to tell its multifaceted story in four minutes? I’m going to exemplify the PLA’s year by highlighting two events – just two. The first, in January, was the PLA Navy commissioning its largest and most advanced surface warship, the Nanchang guided-missile destroyer. The second, in February, was the PLA Army’s rapid mobilization to fight the novel coronavirus.

Experts say China’s first 10,000-ton-class, Type 055 destroyer, the most powerful surface combatant in China’s navy (other than aircraft carriers), marks the navy’s leap from third to fourth generation. It is very versatile: it can accompany aircraft carriers in battle groups and can lead task groups in conducting a wide range of missions. The warship’s arsenal includes 112 vertical-launch missile cells capable of launching surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, land-attack missiles, and anti-submarine missiles. Observers say its commissioning reflects China’s deep blue-water strategy to safeguard, as they say, China’s sovereignty security and overseas interests.

When China’s senior leadership, led by President Xi Jinping, learned of the human-to-human transmission, soon after Xi’s directive to the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on January 20, Wuhan was put into lockdown and the PLA was called upon “to shoulder its responsibility” in the country’s uphill battle to control the outbreak. The PLA promptly dispatched elite forces to the frontline. Its Joint Logistic Support Force, which oversees vast resources and supplies in the PLA’s five Theater Commands, purchased 16 kinds of anti-epidemic and medical materials and set up a steady supply chain.

The PLA Central Theater Command General Hospital sent 66 doctors to two civilian hospitals in Wuhan; 450 PLA medics were transported from three cities; and three Theater Commands shipped medical gear, including 200,000 masks and 10,000 sets of protective clothing.

On February 1 and 2, the PLA sent 950 medics, some of whom had prior epidemic experience with SARS and Ebola; they were selected from hospitals in all five Theater Commands and transported to Wuhan by rail, bus and air, including the PLA’s Y-20 heavy transport aircraft. The 1,000-bed Huoshenshan hospital, famously constructed in 10 days, was turned over to the PLA, which provided 1,400 medical personnel, 950 from PLA hospitals and 450 from PLA medical universities.

In mid-February, the PLA brought in an additional 2,600 medical personnel from all PLA’s services, drawn from 19 cities. In total, the PLA brought more than 4,000 military medics to Wuhan, along with tons of critical medical supplies for the almost two-month long battle.

By early March, the PLA had operated 30 flights to move medics and medical necessities from across the nation, and ran a transportation support team of 130 trucks to help provide daily necessities to the epidemic-stricken region.

The PLA guided-missile destroyer represents China’s growing military strength, and will focus on contentious, overlapping claims in the South and East China Seas. The PLA deployment to fight COVID-19 expresses China’s priority to protect the health of its citizens and its epidemic-control experience may also help other countries contend with contagion. In its 93rd year, two sides of the same PLA coin.

I’m watching both.

Cameraman: Morgan Campagnon

Video editor: Hao Xinxin

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com

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Foreign news

French Envoy Seeks Collaboration With NAN To Boost Seamless Relationship

Published

1 month ago

February 5, 2025

The Gleamer

The new French envoy to Nigeria, Marc Fonbaustier, on Wednesday called for collaboration with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) toward strengthening the mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries.

Fonbaustier, who is the French ambassador to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, made the call when he paid a courtesy visit to Malam Ali Muhammad Ali, NAN’s Managing Director, in Abuja.
The ambassador said that his purpose of visiting was to pay tribute to the MD, and to seek collaboration in three areas with a view to promoting stronger, seamless and fruitful partnership between both countries.

He added that Nigeria and its people were hospitable, especially to the foreigners and ambassadors alike.

He added that Nigeria was a country with so much energy, strength, stamina and so many talents.

In Nigeria, with the population of this size, it is inevitable that the elites of the country are very outstanding, “and there may be a Franco/Nigeria moments now”, he jokes.

According to him, France and Nigeria can collaborate more and learn from each other.
“I could feel it particularly during the state visit of President Bola Tinubu which took place in November 2024.

“I was there and I could see the intensity, the strength and the scope of the partnership, and I am here to scale up that partnership in all sectors.

“I am coming here for three reasons, first, to pay a tribute to the NAN MD and his team for the quality of this agency. We can testify that the contents that you publish are very factual, and also very well set up and structured.

“You do fact checking and you really do try to provide the community with quality information. I think, as a French ambassador, I can recognise that as part of a living democracy,” he said.

The French ambassador said the second reason for the visit was to intimate the NAN MD of France’s eagerness to go on partnership with NAN saying he hoped for assurance of a seamless, fluid and easy relationship.

He said that his third reason stemmed from his observation that NAN recently signed some partnership framework agreements with Egypt and China, saying “it may be time to think of balancing this partnership with others”.

“Especially with French, and to talk with Agence France-Presse (AFP) to see if there’s ground for a closer relationship between NAN and AFP.

“Which is also a recognised agency like yours, and I bet you the sky will be the limit to the collaboration, ’’he said.

Responding, the NAN MD informed the envoy that the agency was African’s biggest news content provider on account of its size.

Ali gave the envoy a little details of the agency’s operation and its outreach, saying “as our continent’s biggest news content provider, we have offices nationwide and in selected African countries.

“We have offices in countries such as South Africa, Cote d’ivoire, Addis Ababa, and then we have offices also beyond the shores of Africa. We have in New York and we are the only resident wire service in the United Nations.

“At a time in the past, the agency had 11 foreign offices, including Moscow, and presently, we are trying to re-open some of our shut offices, especially in London.
“We value partnership and understanding that we have with similar news organisation such as Reuters and, incidentally, we have a long standing relationship with AFP which you just raised.
“I know for years we have exchange of news between NAN and AFP but it’s a cooperation that we will like to strengthen and with your greater involvement,’’ he said.

The MD commended the ambassador for reaching out and engaging with some Nigerians communities to douse the tension of the allegation made by the Nigeriens.

He also lauded the envoy’s leadership and visibility to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, “which has helped to douse the perception and misconceptions about France, especially in the Sahel”.
“I think you have helped to reverse some of this perceptions. I thank you for the kind words that you said about the agency and about our management.

“We also see partnership as an important tool in checking the spread of fake news.
“We’ve seen instances where fake news has done great deal of damage, and with the coming of social media it has done even greater damage.

“Our country is facing a lot of challenges, one of which is the increasing insecurity, and the social media has been used by those who do not want to see our country to prosper,” Ali said.
He further said that NAN was a credible news agency that always fact check to correct the wrong narratives by those who are in the business of causing troubles.

He also told the envoy that the agency has its content in the Nigerian indigenous languages, starting with Hausa and it would proceed to Yoruba and Igbo languages later, “then later in future to French.

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