A grand military parade will be held at the heart of Beijing Thursday morning to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, underscoring the country's self-defensive policy.

"As an important force safeguarding world peace and development, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) will continue pursuing a national defense policy that is defensive in nature and pose no threat to other countries," said Lieutenant General Fang Fenghui, commander-in-chief of the parade and commander of PLA Beijing Military Area Command in an interview with Xinhua.

"We will stick to our country's policy to safeguard world peace and promote common development," Fang said.

China adheres to a long-standing defensive policy of "no first use of nuclear weapons" from the very beginning it developed its nuclear ammunition, Fang said.

Addressing the United Nations Security Council nuclear summit in New York on Sept. 24, 2009, Chinese President Hu Jintao proposed that all nuclear weapon states abandon the nuclear deterrence policy based on first use of nuclear weapons and take credible steps to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons.

"To realize a safer world for all, we must first and foremost remove the threat of nuclear war," Hu said. "All nuclear-weapon states should make an unequivocal commitment of unconditionally not using or threatening to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones, and conclude a legally-binding international instrument in this regard."

According to the White Paper "China's National Defense in 2008" released on Jan. 20 this year, China noted that its nuclear missiles of the Second Artillery Force "are not aimed at any country in peacetime."

China has been reporting on its national defense policy in a white paper every two years since 1998, introducing its national defense policy, the structure and development of the forces, the budgets and use of defense expenditure.

Chinese leaders have made repeated commitments to world peace and development since the nation's founding in 1949.

"For now and in the future, China would never seek hegemony, nor would we turn to military expansion or arms race with other countries," Chinese President Hu Jintao told heads of 29 foreign navy delegations attending the PLA Navy celebration in Qingdao on April 23, 2009.

"China will unswervingly stick to the road of peaceful development, which demands China to adhere to the defensive national defense policy," Hu said.

During the process of reform and opening up, the Chinese army takes it as the fundamental purpose to safeguard world peace, development and stability, as well as national sovereignty, security and development.

Wang Xinjun, a research fellow of warring theory and strategy at the PLA Military Science Academy, said defensive armaments were the majority of the PLA ammunitions as offensive weapons account for a very small proportion of its depot.

"This is the most distinctive aspect that makes PLA different from the troops in other countries," Wang said. "The core of Chinese military strategy lies in defensiveness rather than offensiveness."

Preparing to disclose many of its latest national defense strength in the parade, China holds on to its goal of a peaceful development.

"What poses threat to another country is not one country's military strength, but the policy it follows," said Major General Gao Jianguo, spokesman for the joint headquarters for the parade in Beijing.

"China unswervingly persists in taking a road of peaceful development, striving for a harmonious world that highlights global peace and common prosperity," Gao said. "Our military ties with foreign countries are based on equality, mutual trust and cooperation."

Through non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting at any third party, China has established military ties with more than 150 countries and set up military attache offices in 109 countries. Meanwhile, 101 countries have set up military attache offices in China.

Among the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, China currently sends the most peacekeepers. More than 13,000 Chinese peacekeepers have carried out 18 UN peacekeeping operations since China's first dispatch of military observers to such operations in 1990.

Since the end of last year, the Chinese navy has carried out escort missions in the waters of the Gulf of Aden off Somali and has escorted more than 800 ships.

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