People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers attend a drill during a reporting trip to the Third Guard Division of the PLA in Beijing July 28, 2009. August 1 marks the 82nd anniversary of the founding of the PLA. REUTERS/Reinhard KrauseFrom The Christian Science Monitor:
The PLA gave foreign reporters a rare tour of a base outside Beijing this week and announced a bilingual website slated to debut Aug.1, the Army's 82nd birthday.
Beijing - Foreign reporters this week got a rare peek inside an infantry base of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). At the same time, officials were reportedly putting the final touches to a bilingual PLA website that is due to go live on Aug. 1, the 82nd anniversary of its foundation.
Taken together, these efforts are designed to signal greater transparency by a 2.3 million-strong military whose rapid expansion has stirred unease among other foreign powers, including Japan and the United States. But these baby steps seem unlikely to silence the debate over China's military capacity and how it intends to use it in future.
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