China’s Military Training Order Reflects Xi’s Stronger Determination of War

This is the fourth consecutive year that President Xi has issued a training order to the armed forces as the year’s first directive from the CMC calling upon the PLA to transform military training and strengthening technology training of the Chinese troops

@Kunal_Chonkar

New Delhi: Refusing to cower under the mounting international pressure and a slew of domestic issues, Chinese President Xi Jinping has instructed the military to strengthen training to hone its combat skills and remain on high alert. President Xi’s orders come close on the heels of the newly revised defense law, which has aggrandized the powers of the PLA.

President Xi, who is also the Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), on January 4, issued a training mobilization order by signing the ‘CMC Order No. 1 of 2021’ which has more flavour of war than last year’s.

The new order has 633 words, the longest in the past three years, and the content is richer and more concrete than in previous years. While the 2020 order claimed to ‘reinforce the idea of soldiering and fighting in a war,’ this year’s order has replaced the phrase with ‘strengthening the party’s leadership over military training work, focusing on preparing for war,’ strengthening ‘studies of war and combat issues,’ and ‘achieving the integration of combat and training to ensure readiness for war at all times and ability to fight at any time.’

Also Read: China Intensified and Increased Military Pressure on Taiwan in 2020

Since 2013, Beijing has called on the PLA to ‘be ready to assemble at the first call, be capable of fighting and winning,’ but wording such as ‘winning’ or ‘must-win’ have been removed from this year’s order. However, one can decipher a heightened urgency and focus in 2021 order to ‘transform military training,’ and ‘strengthening technology training’ of the troops. 

A Chinese state-run media in its report recently quoted Macau-based military observer Wong Tong as saying that ‘Beijing used to reduce military training in winter, especially for the Navy, but it has stopped doing so this winter.’ The report further quotes Wong saying ‘the atmosphere is already almost the same as in a war situation.’ According to Wong ‘the increasingly serious wording in the training order has shown that China’s determination to go to war is stronger than ever.’

The defense expert added that ‘this is the fourth consecutive year that President Xi has issued a training order to the military as the year’s first directive from the CMC.’ He also claimed that ‘in terms of technology training, China now uses virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and cloud big data in military drills and uses technology to ‘propel’ and ‘harden’ the soldiers.