In his first order of the new year to the country\u2019s armed forces, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the need for \u201cfull-time combat readiness\u201d and said the People\u2019s Liberation Army must use frontline frictions to polish troop capabilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Xi, who also chairs China\u2019s Central Military Commission (CMC), the top command body, said the PLA must be ready to \u201cact at any second\u201d as the country\u2019s armed forces kicked off the year\u2019s military training and exercises on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
He also ordered the PLA to \u201csubstantially increase\u201d the use of technology in its exercises, and to keep up with the latest developments in military and hi-tech knowledge. These included the use of computer simulations and online combat in drills, as well as exploration of more opportunities to add hi-tech and the internet \u2013 known as tech+ and web+ \u2013 in training. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c[The PLA must] increase the integration of new equipment, new forces and new combat realms into training and combat systems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Notably, Xi\u2019s remarks about the PLA\u2019s current \u201cfrontline military struggles\u201d were a departure from previous year-opening orders \u2013 including 2020 \u2013 which instructed the armed forces to \u201cmanage crises and deter war\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
While he did not specify the frontline struggles, 2020 saw the worst conflict in decades with India, in the southwestern border region, which led to more than 20 Indian deaths and an undisclosed number of Chinese casualties. The two sides remain locked in a prolonged stand-off in the frozen Himalayas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
The PLA also stepped up exercises and air force fly-by operations targeting Taiwan during 2020, as its navy continued to counter US navy patrols in the South China Sea while military tensions between Beijing and Washington reached a new high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Hong Kong-based military commentator Song Zhongping said Xi\u2019s 2021 order showed the leadership was intending to take all measures to upgrade the PLA\u2019s capability of winning a war. \u201cChina is indeed facing a great risk of war, which has been seriously implied in this order,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The PLA had increasingly adopted the use of simulators to imitate real equipment, connecting them online so that a drill could be as \u201creal\u201d and intense as possible, under its tech+ and web+ strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cExercises in a new era must be diversified and equipped with hi-tech, even war games,\u201d Song said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
The PLA, as the military force of the Communist Party of China, must \u201cresolutely implement\u201d the orders from the CMC and CPC, to mark the 100th anniversary of the party\u2019s founding on July 1 with \u201cexcellent performances\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n