The World - News from April 19, 1985

Chinese Communist Party leader Hu Yaobang said in Wellington, New Zealand that China will cut the strength of its armed forces by one million men this year. He told reporters that the reduction in conventional forces will not diminish China’s ability to defend itself. The London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates China’s total regular armed forces at 4 million. Hu said the troop cut will be consistent with China’s foreign policy of “peace and stability in the world.”