TIL Desk/World/Beijing/ China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) now has new vehicle-mounted howitzers in Tibet to enhance the high-altitude combat capability of its forces in the region bordering India. These howitzers were used in the Chinese artillery brigade during the 73-day military stand-off with India in 2017.
The deployment of these cannons came in the light of China’s unresolved border disputes and anti-Beijing activities by pro-Tibet independence forces and terrorists, according to military analysts in a report. Of the 14 neighbours, China was yet to solve its border disputes with India and Bhutan.
Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, confirmed on Monday that the howitzer has a 52-calibre cannon with a range of over 50 kilometres and shoots laser-guided and satellite-guided projectiles.
Zhao Gancheng, Director of the Centre for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, told that the military investment in Tibet had been rising, but was primarily meant for defence and not to provoke conflict with neighbouring countries.
