Xi Jinping orders China’s military to be ready for war ‘at any second’
- As the PLA kicks off its training programme for 2021, its ultimate commander stresses combat readiness and more hi-tech
- Frontline frictions must be used to polish troop capabilities and training exercises need to incorporate technology, Xi said
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“[The PLA must] increase the integration of new equipment, new forces and new combat realms into training and combat systems,” he said.
Notably, Xi’s remarks about the PLA’s current “frontline military struggles” were a departure from previous year-opening orders – including 2020 – which instructed the armed forces to “manage crises and deter war”.
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Since taking over as president and head of the CMC in late 2012, Xi has consistently pushed the PLA to be prepared for war. He also initiated a massive overhaul of the PLA in 2015 to modernise the Chinese military, planned for completion in 2020.
Hong Kong-based military commentator Song Zhongping said Xi’s 2021 order showed the leadership was intending to take all measures to upgrade the PLA’s capability of winning a war. “China is indeed facing a great risk of war, which has been seriously implied in this order,” he said.
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The PLA had increasingly adopted the use of simulators to imitate real equipment, connecting them online so that a drill could be as “real” and intense as possible, under its tech+ and web+ strategy.
“Exercises in a new era must be diversified and equipped with hi-tech, even war games,” Song said.
In the order, Xi also emphasised that military exercises must highlight cooperation across forces to forge joint operation capabilities, and the safety of soldiers in training must be well managed.
The PLA, as the military force of the Communist Party of China, must “resolutely implement” the orders from the CMC and CPC, to mark the 100th anniversary of the party’s founding on July 1 with “excellent performances”, he said.