New military body to focus on high-tech weapons

The establishment of a new military commission focusing on the development of high-tech weapons can be seen as a part of efforts to deepen China's military reform, showing the country's dedication to build a modernized army, said Chinese military experts.

The existence of a scientific research steering committee was unveiled on Tuesday in the eighth episode of the political documentary titled Carrying the Reform through to the End, which was co-produced by the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China Central Television CCTV and also the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission.

The new commission, together with the CPC Central Military Commission's Science and Technology Commission, constitutes the brand-new top architecture for China's national security and army building on science and technology innovation, according to the episode.

The episode also mentioned a likely US counterpart of the new Chinese commission - the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Commission (DARPA), which has been playing an important role in the US military innovation, including the development of GPS and stealth fighter jets.

The main tasks of the commission may include evaluating the future of high-end military weapons development and approving related military projects as well as providing consultation services to key advanced military decisions, just like the US DARPA, Song Zhongping, a military expert who used to serve in the PLA Rocket Force, told the Global Times on Thursday.

The commission is a standing body, and China's A-list military experts including officials from the Central Military Commission, top technicians and engineers will be serving at the commission, Song said, adding that the application of China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System and Tiantuo satellites to the military are good examples of the work of the commission.

The establishment of the commission shows China's determination to build up a modern, high-tech army of great quality, which can win wars coming in whatever ways, Song said.

The documentary comprising 10 episodes, presenting different aspects of China's new reforms, is currently being aired nightly on CCTV, starting from July 17. Two of the episodes are about military reforms.