China’s Xi Jinping urges troops to ‘focus on the battlefield’ during trip to military medical school

“It is necessary to adhere to moral education and personnel training for combat readiness, deepen educational and teaching reforms, and cultivate a new generation of red military doctors who are morally upright and capable,” Xi said.

Army Medical University specialises in fields including high-altitude military medicine, war trauma medicine and burn medicine, according to its website.

It also has China’s only national laboratory for research on injuries including trauma, burns, and composite injuries, the website states.

Xinhua praised the university for “persistently prioritising military needs, advancing innovative development, and excelling in fulfilling major tasks” in military medical support during conflicts and for China’s Covid-19 response.

Xi called on the institution to “vigorously promote innovative research in specialised medical fields, consolidate traditional strengths, seize the forefront of development, and strive for excellence in military medical science”.

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In September of last year, the PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command General Hospital held a medical support exercise in which field surgery vehicles rushed to a coastal battlefield to rescue wounded soldiers.

During China’s annual parliamentary session in March, PLA spokesman Wu Qian said the growing defence budget would be directed towards improving combat readiness and preparing for wars as “challenges persist at home and abroad”.

“The instability and uncertainty of the security situation we face have increased, and the task of the military struggle is arduous and burdensome,” Wu said, adding that international military conflicts had broken out and China’s domestic anti-separatist struggle was “complex and grim”.