HONG KONG: Chairman Xi Jinping initiated a far- reaching and huge restructuring of the People’s Liberation Army ( PLA ) in 2015- 16. He slashed 300, 000 soldiers, created mutual theater orders, revamped several umbrella sections and elevated the PLA Rocket Force. The Strategic Support Force’s construction on January 31 marked another significant change.
Xi has since removed that firm from December 2015 and replaced it with another.
The Information Support Force was established by Xi on April 19 at a high-level PLA ceremony in Beijing to replace the Strategic Support Force ( SSF). The former lasted simply over eight years and continued to be a somewhat gloomy power. Nevertheless, its functions were identified by the spellings of important subordinate departments like the Network Systems Department and the Space Systems Department.
The SSF was abolished, and the brand-new Data Support Force was established, making the most significant overhaul of the PLA since 2015-16. Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense ( MND), described the restructuring as a major decision by the Central Committee and the Central Military Commission in order to build a strong military. It is also a strategic move to establish a new method of service and wings and improve the modern military power structure with Chinese features.
In fact, the PLA now sports a more streamlined” 4+4″ force structure as a result. The preexistent PLA Army, Navy, Air Force, and Rocket Force are all referenced in this formula, which also includes four services as well as four arms. These four PLA units make up the new Information Systems Department, which is joined by the newly elevated Aerospace Force, Cyberspace Force, and the current Joint Logistics Support Force.
Another significant change brought about by the new” 4+4″ structure is that these four branches now directly serve the Central Military Commission. The CMC, headed by Xi, is the top party organ in charge of all of China’s military and paramilitary forces.
Lieutenant General Bi Yi, who was the SSF’s deputy commander, is the first commander of the Information Support Force. General Li Wei was appointed the force’s political commissar, having previously served as the SSF’s political commissar. The commander of the former SSF was General Ju Qiansheng, but his current status is unknown. He vanished from the PLA Rocket Force last year before reappearing for a brief period of time in February, and it’s not clear if he was involved in the corruption scandal that completely shook the organization’s leadership ranks.
What does the Information Support Force do, then? Even Senior Colonel Wu claimed that it supports” coordinated development and application of network information systems,” but its roles are still somewhat murky. However, according to his description, it is tasked with providing support for network communications, network defense, and network information systems. It presumably combines tasks that the Information Communications Base previously performed.
At the investiture ceremony in Beijing, Xi cryptically said the new force “is necessary to effectively support operations, adhere to information- led and joint victory, smooth information links, integrate information resources, strengthen information protection, deeply integrate into the military’s joint operations system, accurately and efficiently implement information support, and serve to support military struggles in all directions and fields”.
Why did Xi make this change at this point? Dr. Brendan Mulvaney, Director of the US Department of Air Force’s China Aerospace Studies Institute ( CASI), told ANI:” Corruption could be a part, but they seem perfectly happy to remove senior leaders and let the organization continue, so it is more than that. Should be there was too much bureaucracy, but again that does n’t seem to be the whole story, especially when you now add the Information Support Force. The CMC ( also known as Xi Jinping ) might have desired more direct control over the information domain forces and felt that the SSF was n’t doing the job.
He added that perhaps the PLA wanted to split some of the tasks and responsibilities between the SSF’s Network Systems Department and the cyber force because they were perhaps too dispersed.
It appears as though Xi was unhappy with the SSF’s performance, and that improving military operational efficiency and strengthening political oversight were two significant factors. The latter likely turned out to be an extraneous management layer, obscuring Xi’s understanding of what the PLA was doing in the space, information, and cyberspheres. In fact, one source speculates that the SSF’s demise may be directly related to China’s notorious high-altitude spy balloon program, which led to the USA shooting a balloon down over its territory in February 2023.
Xi may have been caught off guard by that covert SSF program, leading him to demand greater visibility over various programs. After the reorganization, Xi and his CMC cohorts can now work directly with the four individual support forces rather than having to deal with an intermediary SSF headquarters. The four arms themselves will benefit from this because an unnecessary management layer above them does n’t block them.
Furthermore, the four arms are now one grade lower than both the PLA’s five theater commands and each of the four services. Someone in the deputy theater command leader grade leads each force/arm. Previously, the SSF was at the same level as these five commands. This means that commanders in the five regional theater commands should be able to request and receive support from the four forces more easily in militaries, where the chain of command is crucial, without having to resort to a higher headquarters.
The PLA has historically tended to be a very stove- piped organization, so this move should improve functionality for joint operations. Regarding the surprise move by Xi, Dr Mulvaney pointed out:” There were no outside indications, at least not publicly available ones, that the SSF was going away. The PLARF had similar issues, and they only removed the political commissar and the commander, despite what we had heard. Although it’s obvious that creating a new force and disbanding one requires a lot of planning and preparation, the PLA appears to have kept these plans pretty well hidden from public view.
During the ceremony’s inauguration on April 19th, Xi commanded the Information Support Force to “resolutely follow the party’s instructions and ensure that it stays completely loyal, pure, and reliable.” As outlined in the 2019″ China’s National Defense in the New Era” white paper, it was stated the PLA would evolve from “informationized” to “intelligentized” warfare through such technologies as artificial intelligence, quantum information, big data, cloud computing and the Internet of Things. The Chinese Communist Party may become even more dependent on centralized control as a result, which may be another justification for Xi’s placing the Information Support Force directly under the CMC’s purview.
” Informatization”, alongside “mechanization” and “intelligentization”, are key watchwords of the PLA’s modernization program. Indeed, the PLA considers the information domain as important as the four traditional domains of air, land, sea and space. Xi makes the most of the 2027 deadline, which is the centenary of the Chinese military, for the PLA to meet its interim modernization objectives. According to Xi, the Information Support Force has a” crucial role in advancing the Chinese military’s high-quality development and competitiveness in modern warfare.”
Will the reorganization be disruptive to PLA operations? Dr. Mulvaney said it would not be massive. The CASI representative added,” Anytime there is a reorganization, it causes disruption, but it will certainly be manageable. I think the Aerospace Force is good.
will likely just continue as usual with little change. The Information Support Force will likely be a portion of the Cyberspace Force’s organization, but the rest will continue to operate as before. And even the moving parts are unlikely to suffer too much.
Dr. Mulvaney further noted:” The new headquarters will take time to get up and running, stake out positions and roles and establish command and control, as well as organizational relationships with the other services, forces and theater commands. But it wo n’t be as big of a shift as the 2015- 16 reforms, and really only affects a pretty small portion of the PLA as a whole”.
The Cyberspace Force’s spokesman described its role as “reinforcing national cyber border defense, promptly detecting and countering network intrusions, and maintaining national cyber sovereignty and information security,” referring to the other two units ‘ elevated to force status on April 19th. Absolutely offensive cyber activities, which actually play a significant role in PLA and Chinese doctrine, were what he described. In fact, several Five Eyes nations publicly accused China of conducting illegal online activity last month. The SSF’s former Network Systems Department’s responsibilities are essentially assumed by the Cyberspace Force.
Without a trace of irony, Senior Colonel Wu said,” We actively advocate building a cyberspace featuring peace, security, openness and cooperation, and are committed to working with the international community to jointly build a community with a shared future in cyberspace”. Of course, China is responsible for numerous large-scale and repeated breaches of private and government networks around the world and has one of the most tightly controlled internet systems in the world.
As for the Aerospace Force, it supplants the SSF’s Space Systems Department. That implies that it will supervise space launches and operations. Building the Aerospace Force is of great significance for enhancing the capacity to safely enter, exit, and use space, enhancing crisis management, promoting peaceful use of space, and according to Senior Colonel Wu. China’s space policy is clear. We are committed to using space peacefully.
China prefers to emphasize peaceful spaceflight, but the PLA has a very aggressive military space program that includes anti-space missiles and satellites. It is interesting that, of the four forces, the MND mentioned the Aerospace Force first. The Aerospace Force will be the most senior force in the quartet, followed by the Cyberspace Force and Information Support Force, respectively, given that the PLA adheres to strict rules when making formal announcements.
According to Dr. Mulvaney,” the Aerospace Force and Cyberspace Force are really just the former SSF departments of the same name ( with “force” now replacing “department” ), so they were n’t really created here; instead, they were just having the overarching SSF structure removed. The transition for the Aerospace and Cyberspace Forces should be surprisingly simple because they will likely continue to operate normally from their current locations.
Senior Colonel Wu said,” This is of profound and far-reaching significance to the modernization of national defense and the armed forces, and effective fulfillment of the missions and tasks of the people’s military in the new era,” in reference to all these changes that were implemented on April 19. The PLA’s work of restructuring and making it ready for war is not yet complete. China’s MND said that,” as circumstances and tasks evolve, we will continue to refine the modern military force structure”.
