Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for “faster coordination of military forces to world-class standards” in a speech days after he warned that the country was threatened by the US leadership’s “contain, encircle and suppress China” campaign.

China should maximize its “national strategic capability” to “systematically enhance the country’s overall strength to counter strategic risks, protect strategic interests, and achieve strategic goals,” Xi said yesterday Wednesday.

His comments to parliamentarians representing the People’s Liberation Army, the military wing of the ruling Communist Party and the paramilitary People’s Armed Police were reported by the official Xinhua news agency.

Xi Jinping issued a series of calls to accelerate the development of self-sufficiency in science and technology, strengthen strategic emergency response capabilities, increase the resilience of industrial and supply chains, and make national reserves “better able to ensure national security.”

The program, drawn up by Xi Jinping, is combined with a number of national strategies already underway, including the Made in China 2025 campaign to make China dominant in 10 key areas, from integrated circuits to aerospace, and a multi-year campaign to integrate civil and military sectors in the economy.

Xi Jinping also mentioned the need to “reach the centenary of China’s People’s Liberation Army in 2027” when, according to some US observers, China intends to be able to conquer self-ruled Taiwan, a US ally, by military means.

China has laid out its centennial goals in mostly vague terms, such as a desire to become more intelligence-driven and bring the People’s Liberation Army up to “world-class standards.”

China should build “a strong strategic deterrent force system, increase the presence of combat forces in new areas, and promote in-depth combat military training,” Xi Jinping said in a speech last year.

Over the past decade, China’s defense budget has roughly doubled, allowing it to maintain the world’s largest standing army of 2 million, the world’s largest navy by number of ships, and the largest missile and air force in the Indo-Pacific. region.

His latest comments came after speaking Monday to delegates attending the annual session of the National People’s Congress, which highlighted China’s displeasure with US restrictions on access to technology and its support for Taiwan and regional military blocs with unusually harsh language.

“Western countries, led by the United States, have carried out the complete containment, encirclement and suppression of China, which has created unprecedented and serious problems for our country’s development,” Xi said, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

In response, State Department spokesman Ned Price said that Washington wants to “coexist responsibly” in the global trading and political system and does not intend to suppress China.

“This is not about restricting China. It’s not about suppressing China. This is not about intercepting China,” Price said. “We want to have fair and constructive competition” that “does not lead to such conflict.”

Source: Associated Press.