China to cut military troops by 300,000

                      China military troop on parade                         (C)Reuters

President Xi Jinping announced on Thursday he would cut troop levels by 300,000 as China held its biggest display of military might in a parade to commemorate victory over Japan in World War Two, an event shunned by most Western leaders, the Reuters reports.
China's confidence in its armed forces and growing military assertiveness, especially in the disputed South China Sea, has rattled the region and drawn criticism from Washington.
Xi stated that China would cut by 13 percent one of the biggest militaries, currently about 2.3 million strong. Although he gave no time frame for the reduction, the move is said to be part of a long-mooted military reforms. Troop numbers have been cut three times since 1980s as part of China’s efforts to modernize its armed forces.
For Xi, the parade is a welcome distraction from the country's plunging stock markets, slowing economy and recent blasts at two chemical warehouse that killed scores of people.
Xi was joined by Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders of several other nations with close ties to China, including Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.
Most Western leaders rebuffed invitations to attend, diplomats said, unhappy about the guest list and wary of the message China would send with the show of strength.