Your visit can be a message," President Shimon Peres told General Chen Bingde, chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China. The general, along with a high ranking military delegation, his Israeli counterpart, Lt.-Gen.Benny Gantz and high ranking members of the IDF met with the president on Tuesday to discuss diplomatic and security developments. China not only has a huge and powerful army, but a very disciplined and educated army, said Peres, who made the point that Gantz is also interested in upgrading the level of education of soldiers in the IDF and wants all of them to leave with at least a Bachelor of Arts degree. Chen said that the army had been upgraded since the introduction of economic reforms in the late 1970's. His country's army's goal is to safeguard the people and defend China's territorial integrity and contribute to world peace.
