Three top generals of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China accentuated on Tuesday to increase military preparedness against threats to national sovereignty.

The PLA should firmly push forward military preparedness, increase competence to safeguard national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, said Guo Boxiong, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), when joining a discussion on Hu Jintao's report to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

"We determinedly oppose 'Taiwan independence' activities, and will never allow any one sever Taiwan from China in any name or by any means," Guo told the PLA delegation to the congress that opened Monday morning.

In pushing forward the Chinese-style revolution in military affairs, Guo asked the PLA to build digitized armed forces and try all out to win a war in the information age.

In the same discussion, Vice CMC Chairman and Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan said improvement of battle effectiveness is always the most important task of the PLA. Cao also urged military preparedness and better construction and management of the armed forces.

Unswerving efforts must be done by the PLA to obey the absolute steering of the Party, Cao said. "Any denial or neutralization of the Party leadership will be uncompromisingly fought against," he said, vowing that the PLA will discipline itself to orders from the CPC Central Committee, the CMC and CMC Chairman Hu Jintao.

Xu Caihou, also vice CMC chairman, asked the armed forces to grasp cream of the strategy set in Hu's report in which he said the Chinese "must make our country prosperous and our armed forces powerful while building a moderately prosperous society in all respects."

(Xinhua News Agency October 17, 2007)