Chinese President Xi Jinping, also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended a plenary meeting of the delegation of the People's Liberation Army and People's Armed Police Force, at the third session of the 13th National People's Congress, China's national legislature, in Beijing on May 26. Xi stressed achieving the targets and missions of strengthening the national defense and armed forces for 2020, while maintaining effective epidemic control on a regular basis. Edited excerpts of Xi's speeches on national defense and armed forces since 2012 follow:  

The people's armed forces have once again proven themselves to be heroic forces that can be fully trusted by the Party and the people. 

The epidemic has brought a profound impact on the global landscape and on China's security and development as well.  

The military needs to think about worst-case scenarios, scale up training and battle preparedness, promptly and effectively deal with all sorts of complex situations and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests. 

Reform and innovation are needed to address new situations and problems exposed in the epidemic. We should accelerate the research and development on COVID-19 drugs and vaccines by tapping the advantages of military medical research. 

On defense expenditure, every penny must be well spent to produce maximum results. 

-Speech at a plenary meeting of the delegation of the People's Liberation Army and People's Armed Police Force, at the third session of the 13th National People's Congress on May 26

We will never allow any person, any organization or any political party to split any part of the Chinese territory away from the country at any time, in any form. No one should expect us to accept anything that damages our sovereignty, security, or development interests. 

We must fully implement the strategy of strengthening the military with science and technology, the essence of which is innovation. We should follow developments in military science and technology throughout the world. Plans and designs should be forward-looking. Research and development should focus on strategic, cutting-edge and disruptive technologies, which will contribute to the building of the military and the improvement of combat capabilities.  

The military is deeply rooted in the people; the power of people's war lies in the great power of the people.  

-Speech at the rally marking the 90th anniversary of the founding of the PLA on August 1, 2017

We should focus on civil-military integration, advance major reform tasks covering both military and civilian services, and promote integrated development of the economy and national defense. 

We need to identify the right breakthrough points, plan ahead, explore and pilot research in both major technologies and new concepts with foresight, actively seek a competitive edge in military technologies, and improve combat effectiveness with innovation. 

-Speech at a meeting of the Central Military Commission on reforming the armed forces on November 24, 2015

Achieving the great renewal of the Chinese nation has become the dream of the Chinese people in modern times. This great dream we have is to make our country strong. To the military, the dream is to make our forces strong. To achieve these aims we must strive both to enrich the country and build a strong national defense and powerful military. 

-Speech during Xi's inspection visit to the Guangzhou Military Command on December 8 and 10, 2012

(Sources: Xinhua News Agency & Xi Jinping: The Governance of China (I&II))