The military unit that connects China’s secret ‘red phone’ calls

It’s 57 years old, operates out of western Beijing and connects the biggest players at the highest echelons of power in China.

It’s the “Channel One Operator” unit, an all-women military group that transfers calls between leaders through a system of red desk phones.

Shedding rare light on the top-secret web of communications, military mouthpiece PLA Daily revealed on Thursday that the unit was under the direct command of the Central Military Commission’s Joint Staff Department, the hub for the overhauled armed forces.

The red phones are status symbols in Chinese politics, linking officials from the deputy provincial level upwards. They have no dial pads and to make a call, a user simply picks up a handset, names the person they want to speak to and a member of the unit puts the call through.

In an age of mobile digital communication, the system is a holdover from the days of late leader Mao Zedong.

According to PLA Daily, the system is also used to direct military orders between the armed forces’ top brass and other senior officials. Two of the phones appeared on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s desk when he gave his televised New Year address on state-run CCTV in 2014.