The Dream of a Strong Army

To realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, we must uphold the unity of building a rich nation and a strong army, and strive to build a strong national defense and a strong army. After the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, Xi Jinping proposed the concept during his inspection of the Guangzhou Military Region. The dream of building a strong army is proposed in the context of the Chinese Dream and the dream of building a strong country. Xi Jinping pointed out that achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the greatest dream of the Chinese nation since modern times. This dream is a dream of building a strong country for the country and a dream of building a strong army for the army. National defense and army building must be understood and promoted under the basis of realizing the great goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, subject to and serve the highest interests of the country and nation, and provide a strong guarantee for the realization of the Chinese Dream.

Only a rich country can build a strong army, and only a strong army can defend the country. Building a rich country and a strong army, like two wheels of a car and two wings of a bird, should be given equal emphasis at all times. Xi Jinping emphasized that it is necessary to coordinate economic construction and national defense construction and achieve the unity of building a rich country and a strong army. Economic construction is the basic support for national defense construction. Only when the national economic strength is strengthened can national defense construction have greater development. National defense construction is a strategic task for China’s modernization. Only by strengthening national defense construction can economic development have stronger security guarantees. At the same time, strengthening national defense construction also plays an important role in promoting economic and social development. The profound connotation of “the dream of building a strong army” resides in its internal relationship with “the dream of building a strong country”.

The Chinese Dream leads the dream of building a strong army, and the dream of building a strong army supports the Chinese Dream. On the one hand, achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation conforms to the highest interest of the country and nation. The goal of army building must subject to and serve the Party's historical tasks and national strategic goals. On the other hand, the dream of building a strong army is not only the intrinsic composition of, but also a strong support for the dream of building a strong country. Without a strong army and a strong national defense, the dream of building a strong country cannot be truly realized. The dream of building a strong army requires promoting the leap-forward development of national defense and the army and providing a strong guarantee for the realization of the Chinese Dream. This is the new era connotation of the mission of the army and reflects the new requirements and expectations of the Party and the people for the army. To realize the dream of building a strong army, resolutely listening to the command of the Party is the soul. The army must adhere to the Party's absolute leadership, and resolutely listen to the Party's command and follow the Party’s road at any time and under any circumstances.

Being able to fight and winning battles is the key to building a strong army. It is necessary to develop and prepare in accordance with the requirements of fighting, and ensure that the troops can come, fight and win the battle when they are called up. Governing the army in accordance with the law and with strict discipline is the foundation of building a strong army. It is necessary to maintain a strict style and iron discipline to ensure a high degree of concentration, unity, security and stability of the troops. The “dream of building a strong army” takes the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation as its lofty ideal, takes the national security environment and the status quo of army building as the objective basis, and takes the improvement of military combat effectiveness as the starting point and ending point. It is the inheritance and development of the older generation of proletarian revolutionaries' thoughts on army building, and the latest achievement of the CPC's military guiding theory keeping pace with the times.