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Summary The PLA's main duty is to safeguard party rule and strike back against opponents.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is reasserting the Communist Partys ultimate control over the armed forces at a time of rising defense budgets and sharpening East Asian territorial disputes.Wens remarks at Mondays opening of the legislatures annual 10-day session aim to quash scattered calls for the 2.3 million-member Peoples Liberation Army to be placed under government rather than party control.The PLAs main duty is to safeguard party rule and strike back against opponents, as it did against unarmed pro-democracy student protesters in 1989.Wen also reiterated the militarys chief tasks, including winning regional conflicts using the latest technology, fighting terrorism, maintaining stability, handling emergencies and providing disaster relief.
