China’s Xi Jinping issues hi-tech military call in push for integrated armed forces
- Xi says the People’s Liberation Army needs to innovate and explore new types of combat force models
- He also orders PLA to be ready for maritime military struggles
He said that among these key areas were deployments in space, cybersecurity defences and artificial intelligence applications.
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“The preparation for the military struggle at sea, the defence of maritime rights and interests and the development of the maritime economy must be integrated,” he said.
Xi also heard briefings on raising maritime situational awareness, integrating management and use of space resources, and applications of unmanned combat forces, among others, the CCTV report said.
The SSF, founded on December 31, 2015, in Xi’s massive overhaul of the military, has the job of integrating “strategic” functions and abilities across the PLA, including from space to psychological warfare.
Before the overhaul, each service branch – the ground force, the navy and the air force – had their own support units.
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Addressing the deputies, he said the military should “boldly innovate and explore new types of combat force models, and fully liberate and develop new quality combat powers”.
To create the “autonomous, self-reliant, open, and dynamic innovation environment” needed for the capacity building, the military must speed up the development of new combat forces, deepen the systemic reform of the national defence industry, improve the agile response and rapid transformation of advanced technology, and build an innovative supply chain that is “compatible with the development of emerging fields”, he said.
“You must take on the mission, spearhead reform and innovation, and improve our strategic capabilities in emerging fields in a comprehensive manner,” he told the deputies.
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Hu Bo, director of the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, said the comments pointed to the PLA’s plan to build joint force capacity.
“Highlighting the adoption of these emerging technologies in the military is done with joint operations in mind,” Hu said.
In recent years, Xi called for improving the overall “joint” nature of the PLA, involving better coordination of all services and multi-domains such as space, cyber, and electronic warfare, backed up by the PLA Strategic Support Force.
In a report on Friday, military mouthpiece The PLA Daily said establishing a strategic ability in emerging fields” such as space, cyberspace and artificial intelligence would have to be based on coordinated planning and “breakthroughs in key areas”.
Hu said Xi’s special mention of the “maritime military struggle” showed “the seas, including the East and South China seas, as well as the Taiwan Strait, are the major struggle directions of the PLA”.
According to the official statement from the meeting, Xi made no mention of the PLA’s ongoing anti-corruption drive. But other senior PLA officers have pledged at previous sessions of the legislature to crack down on corruption.
In addition, nine generals – including top commanders from the PLA Rocket Force – were ousted from the legislature in December, with the NPC later saying they were suspected of “violations of discipline and the law” – a euphemism for corruption.
