China's military cautiously tries out new openness

[Coventina]

Source: Reuters

BEIJING (Reuters) - The Chinese soldiers shot down targets, overpowered black-clad terrorists and then lined up at attention in front of journalists.

"Now you are invited to conduct individual interviews!" announced the commander of the Third Guard Division, wrapping up a rare media tour of a Beijing military base on Tuesday designed to show the Chinese military's modernity and openness.

The People's Liberation Army's new mantra of transparency and public diplomacy is partly meant to reassure outsiders about China's rising military strength.

"The degree of openness is an expression of national confidence," said security expert Ma Zhengang, president of the China Institute of International Studies.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE56R1YR20090728

[David__77]

1. APPEARANCE of openness, as with the US Army.

This is a PR matter only. China is learning a lot of useful public relations techniques. They worked very well with the violence in Xinjiang province recently.