Chinese top brass say PLA must be on ‘full-time standby’ for war in Taiwan Strait

At Communist Party congress, President Xi Jinping called on PLA to ‘fully enhance training and preparation for war’

General Xu Qiliang says strengthening strategic capabilities could effectively deter an enemy

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Members of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force march during the parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing in October 2019. Photo: AP

Published: 8:00pm, 5 Nov 2022

The People’s Liberation Army must be “on full-time standby” for a war in the Taiwan Strait, senior officers said recently.

After President Xi Jinping called on the PLA to “fully enhance training and preparation for war” in the report he delivered at last month’s Communist Party congress, military leaders provided some interpretation in a book published this week.

“We must be fully prepared to respond to external interference and major incidents relating to Taiwan independence through non-peaceful means and other necessary measures, always maintain a high state of readiness, and be ready for war at all times,” the head of the Central Military Commission’s research bureau, Major General Liu Yantong, wrote in the book of official commentaries on the party congress report.

In another commentary in the book, General Xu Qiliang, formerly the party CMC’s top-ranked vice-chairman, urged the PLA to be “resolute” in crushing attempts at Taiwanese independence and foreign interference and prepare for a rapid transformation from peace to wartime.

“Always maintain a high-readiness posture, like arrows on a pulled string ready to go, to ensure that the troops are prepared to fight at all times,” he wrote.

Xu also said China must make good use of the fundamental “ballast” in great power competition – the strategic deterrence provided by its nuclear weapons.