Chinese President Xi Jinping again urged the military to be ready for war as the country faced an increasingly unstable and uncertain security situation, state media reported on Tuesday.
“The task of military struggle is arduous and heavy,” Xi said, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
“The entire military must … focus on combat ability as the fundamental and only criterion, concentrate all energy on fighting a war, direct all work towards warfare and speed up to build the ability to win.”
Xi made the remarks as the chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) while inspecting the CMC’s joint operation command centre on Tuesday afternoon.
It was Xi’s first trip to the headquarters of the People’s Liberation Army’s operational command since the Communist Party congress last month, when he secured a third term as head of the party and the restructured CMC.
Xi said the visit was to show to all the new CMC’s determination “to fully strengthen military training and preparation for war”.
He said that as the world’s “once in a century change” gained pace, the PLA must “resolutely defend national sovereignty, security, and development interests, and fulfil various tasks entrusted by the party and the people”.
He also told officers at the command centre to develop an organisation that was “absolutely loyal, good at planning wars, efficient in command, and dares to win”.
Earlier on Tuesday, he held a meeting with military leaders, telling them that their work must focus on realising the PLA’s centennial goal – to make the PLA a world-class armed force by 2027.
“We must do all we can to make this happen,” he said.
During his speech at the party congress last month, Xi also set “victory in local wars” as a goal and told the PLA to “improve training and preparation for war in all aspects and improve the ability of the army to fight and win”.
“We will strengthen the normal and diversified use of military forces, carry out military struggles with determination and flexibility, shape the security posture, contain crises and conflicts, and win local wars,” he said.
Air Force General Xu Qiliang, former vice-chairman of the CMC and its top uniformed officer who just retired last month, said in a commentary that the PLA must prepare for a rapid transformation from peace to wartime.
“Always maintain a high readiness posture like arrows on a taut string ready to go, to ensure that the troops are prepared to fight at all times,” Xu said.
