Xi Jinping vows to make Chinese military ‘great wall of steel’ as tensions rise with west

Xi Jinping on Monday pledged to strengthen China’s security and build the military into a “great wall of steel” to defend the country’s interests as relations with the west reach the lowest point in decades.

The Chinese president’s speech to the nearly 3,000 delegates of the National People’s Congress comes at the close of the country’s annual rubber-stamp parliamentary session, during which Xi secured an unprecedented third term as president and appointed a close ally as his new number two.