2024-05-05 02:29:19
Establishment of an information support unit… “President Xi Jinping decides to control Taiwan within his political career”
The People’s Liberation Army of China is controlled by the Communist Party. The People’s Liberation Army is under the command of the Communist Party’s Central Military Commission. China is the only country where the military is controlled by the Communist Party rather than the state. The supreme commander of the People’s Liberation Army is Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is also chairman of the Communist Party’s Central Military Commission.
The background to the military reorganization is corruption.
President Xi attended the ceremony commemorating the establishment of the People’s Liberation Army Intelligence Support Unit held at the Central Military Commission Building in Beijing on April 19. The creation of the Intelligence Support Unit follows the reorganization of the Chinese military. The intelligence support unit is directly commanded by the Central Military Commission. The Intelligence Support Unit, which is akin to an ‘Intelligence Command’, was effectively made into a unit under President Xi’s direct control. The Central Military Commission also newly established a military space unit, cyber unit, and joint military unit. The People’s Liberation Army changed from a five-service branch system, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Rocket Force, and Strategic Support Force, to a four-service branch system with the disbandment of the Strategic Support Force, and four new service types were created. The four newly created military branches were originally handled by the disbanded Strategic Support Force.
This reorganization is the largest military organizational change since the Central Military Commission launched the five-service branch system by adding the Rocket Force and Strategic Support Force to the three service branches of the Army, Navy, and Air Force in December 2015. Japanese media outlet Nikkei Asia pointed out, “When President Xi reorganized the Chinese military in 2015, it took only nine years for the Strategic Support Force, which was praised as a ‘future unit,’ to disappear.” The Strategic Support Force has been called ‘Xi Jinping’s secret weapon’ as it oversees military intelligence, including electronic and information warfare and cyber warfare, and supports the rocket force’s nuclear and space warfare.
Why did President Xi disband the Strategic Support Force and create the Intelligence Support Force? It appears that the problem of corruption, a chronic disease of the military, played a significant role. Since last year, the Chinese Communist Party has been carrying out a large-scale purge of the military under the orders of President Xi. As a result, a large number of generals were purged, including Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu and Commander of the Strategic Support Forces Ju Jie Chensheng. According to media outlets in the Greater China region, including Taiwan and Hong Kong, the number of People’s Liberation Army generals who fell from their horses is estimated to be about 30, including 7 with rank of major general or higher.
The Chinese Communist Party purged about 100 military generals on corruption charges from 2013 to 2017. Afterwards, President Xi appointed a large number of generals he trusted, but they were also purged on charges of corruption. The reason why corruption in the Chinese military cannot be eradicated is because the Chinese military is a communist army. The national army’s mission is to protect the country from foreign forces, but the party’s army exists to guarantee power. As political loyalty is the criterion for personnel management, it is a structure that is prone to power, collusion, and corruption.
Attention to the goal of striving for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the army
China’s intention to significantly strengthen information warfare also appears to have influenced the military reorganization. At the ceremony to commemorate the establishment of the Intelligence Support Unit, President Xi said, “The Intelligence Support Unit is a newly established strategic military branch and a core unit that oversees the construction and operation of network information systems, and will play an important role in the high-quality development of our military and victory in modern warfare.” President Xi then emphasized, “We will strongly support operations, achieve intelligence-led victory, integrate intelligence resources, and implement intelligence support accurately and efficiently to protect the military struggle in all fields.” Fu Qianxiao, a Chinese military expert, said, “The intelligence support unit will focus on not only acquiring and distributing information throughout the unit, but also preventing the enemy from obtaining our information.” He added, “In the future, the intelligence support unit will be able to assist the Chinese military in joint operations. “We will have the ability to improve,” he pointed out. Hong Kong’s English-language newspaper ‘South China Morning Post (SCMP)’ analyzed, “The People’s Liberation Army’s recent military reorganization is related to President Xi’s will to strengthen information warfare.”
Ni Lexiong, a professor at China’s Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said, “In modern warfare, victory and defeat are determined by intelligence, intelligence, and electronic warfare. In this regard, the intelligence support unit was formed separately,” and added, “It will bring the People’s Liberation Army one step closer to achieving its goals.” . James Cha, a researcher at the Rajaratnam School of International Affairs at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, also pointed out, “As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) increases, the specialized role of the intelligence support unit will lead the People’s Liberation Army’s information operations more effectively.”
China releases Shandong ship flyers
What is noteworthy is that the intelligence support unit is expected to actively participate in China’s invasion of Taiwan. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s newspaper ‘Liberation Army Newspaper’ said in an editorial, “The establishment of this new information support unit has made it easier to realize the goal of striving for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the army within a time limit.” The goal of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the military is that the Chinese military will unify Taiwan by force by 2027. This means that in the future, the intelligence support unit will play a key role in the Chinese military’s military unification of Taiwan. Chinese military expert Cao Weidong said, “As wars and military actions in the 21st century become informationized, strategic support is essential.” He added, “This reorganization is in response to the needs of future military actions, such as early warning of satellites in the air and network electronic warfare underground.” did.
The People’s Liberation Army, founded on August 1, 1927, has emphasized that it will achieve its modernization goal in 2027, its 100th anniversary, and become a world-class military power by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The intelligence support unit, which became a unit under President Xi’s direct control, was designed to increase the People’s Liberation Army’s integrated operational capabilities by controlling the four branches of the army, navy, air force, and rocket force, and the five major theaters – eastern, western, southern, northern, and central. It is expected to be strengthened.
The Chinese military is expected to put more effort into strengthening its military capabilities in line with President Xi’s will to unify Taiwan. In fact, the Chinese Navy first unveiled the completed Shandong battle group, its second aircraft carrier, on April 22, a day before its 75th anniversary. The Shandong battle group consisted of surface ships, submarines, and aircraft carriers. The Chinese Navy also showed the launch of the JL-2, a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), from a strategic nuclear submarine for the first time. The JL-2 missile, which can be equipped with a nuclear warhead, has a range of 7,500 to 8,000 km and can strike the entire United States from the Pacific Ocean.
The reason why China released the Shandong warships and SLBM launch scenes appears to be to show off its military power to the United States and Japan and to strongly express its will to protect its sovereignty in the Taiwan issue and South China Sea territorial disputes. China is fielding the ‘JL-3 multiple warhead SLBM’ (range 10,000 km), which is an improved version of the JL-2 missile. A nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is also under construction. It already has three aircraft carriers, including the Liaoning, Shandong, and Fujian, but they are all diesel-powered aircraft carriers. Nuclear-powered aircraft carriers obtain power using nuclear energy as fuel, so unlike conventional diesel aircraft carriers, they can operate for long periods of time without refueling and have a much wider operational range.
The reason China is able to significantly strengthen its military capabilities is because it is investing a large amount of its defense budget. China’s defense budget is increasing every year. This year’s defense budget, which the Chinese government reported to the National People’s Congress (National People’s Congress) on March 5, is 1.67 trillion yuan (about 319.37 trillion won), a 7.2% increase over the previous year. The defense budget growth rate is 6.6% in 2020, 6.8% in 2021, 7.1% in 2022, and 7.2% in 2023, and the defense budget growth rate has exceeded the 7% range for three consecutive years including this year.
Since China hides a significant amount of its defense budget in the budgets of other ministries and does not include research and development (R&D) expenditures, the actual size is likely to be much higher than the announced size. At a press conference held in Tokyo, Japan on April 24, John Aquilino, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said, “China’s defense budget is much higher than this,” and added, “I am concerned that China is funding its military build-up even though its economy is failing.” pointed out. According to the Global Military Balance Assessment Report published this year by Britain’s International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), China’s defense budget last year doubled compared to 2020.
The US-China military competition intensifies
The core reason why China is strengthening its military power is the unification of Taiwan. Commander Aquilino said, “President Xi has instructed the military to prepare to carry out an invasion of Taiwan in 2027.” He also pointed out the possibility of China’s military unification of Taiwan at a hearing of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee in March, saying, “All signs show that President Xi’s instructions to complete preparations for an invasion of Taiwan by 2027 are being implemented.” William Burns, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), also attended a forum held at the George W. Bush Presidential Center on April 18 and said, “President Xi has already decided to control Taiwan within his political career,” adding, “This means that he will control Taiwan tomorrow, next month, and next year.” “It doesn’t mean we’re going to invade, but we have to take these ambitions very seriously.”
The West is focusing its attention on 2027. This is because President Xi’s four consecutive terms as General Secretary of the Party will be confirmed at the 21st Chinese Communist Party Congress held that year. Regardless of whether or not the Chinese military will invade Taiwan, it is clear that the Chinese military will compete more fiercely with the U.S. military in the future, as seen in this military reorganization.
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Lee Jang-hoon, international affairs analyst truth21c@empas.com
2024-05-05 02:29:19