Classic Chinese Two Faced Policy Smiling Before They Strike

China's military build-up poses no threat to the world, even as the army modernizes to meet the challenges of an "informationalized age", a top Chinese army official said June 1.

The comments by Gen. Zhang Qinsheng, deputy chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army, come amid longstanding Western claims that hackers inside China are behind a range of cyberattacks.

"China has always been embarking on peaceful development and the development of China is by no means a threat," Zhang told a conference on land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute, a defense think-tank in London.

"China does not pursue hegemony. We will not do it even when we grow stronger. This is not only the basic state policy, but also a solemn commitment to the people of the world."

In March, China announced that its defense budget would rise 12.7 percent in 2011 to 601.1 billion yuan ($91.7 billion), fuelling regional concerns about Beijing's military build-up in addition to its economic clout.

Addressing an audience of senior military officers from countries including the United States, Britain and Brazil, Zhang said China's armed forces needed "reform" to win increasingly high-tech conflicts.

"The (Chinese) army has to be modernized to fight modern wars in an informationalized age. This is a major challenge facing us," said Zhang, speaking through an interpreter.

He said China's aims had always been defensive, but added: "The goal of modernization of our army is to transform it from a regional defense force to an all-theatre maneuvering force."

Zhang's words come just days after Chinese state media reported that the military had set up an elite Internet security task force tasked with fending off cyber-attacks.

But the Global Times newspaper denied that the initiative, in which the military has reportedly invested millions of dollars, is intended to create a "hacker army", saying that China was relatively weak in cyber-security.

The United States, Australia, Germany and other Western nations have long alleged that hackers inside China are carrying out a wide-range of cyber-attacks on government and corporate computer systems worldwide.

Chinese PLA Bans Soldiers From Social Media

BEIJING - Making online friends could play into the hands of the "enemy", according to China's People's Liberation Army, which has said its roughly 2.3 million soldiers will be banned from using social media.

The world's largest military force has notified service men and women that it will strictly enforce the ban to "safeguard military secrets and the purity and solidarity" of the PLA, state media said this week.

The People's Liberation Daily, the armed forces' official newspaper, said passing on personal details such as a soldier's address, duties or contact details could risk revealing the location of military bases.

It added that particular risks exist in users posting photos of themselves, such as during training, which could divulge military capabilities and equipment.

The ban was included in regulations announced last year that proscribed soldiers from launching websites or writing blogs, the paper added.

But in a sign that the ban was apparently being ignored in a country where social media are wildly popular, the military brass has taken the step of re-emphasizing the restriction, warning of a "grim struggle" on the Internet.

Officers and soldiers must be made to understand the "real dangers" of making friends online and to "strengthen their knowledge of the enemy situation," it said, without elaborating.

China has nearly half a billion online users, according to official figures, and Chinese-language social media sites similar to Facebook and Twitter - which are blocked by the country's censors - count hundreds of millions of users.

The newspaper last week said China's military has set up an elite Internet security task force tasked with fending off cyberattacks, while denying that the initiative is intended to create a "hacker army."

The United States, Australia, Germany and other Western nations have long alleged that hackers inside China are carrying out a wide range of cyberattacks on government and corporate computer systems worldwide.