Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the military to be ready for war and not to be afraid of death in defending the state.

The chief of state's call to the world's largest fighting force, parts of which were only revealed late Thursday, came during what the state media characterized as a rare referral of the Chinese leader to all the military in the country. Xi Jinping became China's most powerful leader in recent decades during the Communist Party Congress in October, and this week's rhetoric and images of crowded soldiers and tanks seem to have been created to support his new image of a strong leader.

Chinese military personnel "should not be afraid of hardship or death," the president told thousands of troops during an inspection visit Wednesday in an army command in the northern province of Hebei, Xinhua news agency reported. The president also urged the military, a temporarily backward military force whose rapid modernization in recent years has triggered anxiety in Asia and Washington to continue to develop. He urged the army to step up research into high-tech military assets and engage in "real-life training," Xinhua said.

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