How will China fulfill the goals for the centenary of the People’s Liberation Army in 2027?

Full-text translation of a key article by Xu Qiliang, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission [downloadable]

Your Ginger River worked till midnight on the translation of the article for today's post since he discovered it to be both crucial and challenging to translate. Eventually, though, he completed it.

The year of 2027 will mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The PLA is expected to achieve its centenary objectives at that time, as one of the three steps for modernizing China's national defense and the armed forces, according to the Resolution of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century [Downloadable] adopted at the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC in 2021:

On Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed achieving the PLA’s centenary goals on time 强调要如期实现建军一百年奋斗目标 as he inspected the joint operations command center of the Central Military Commission (CMC), according to Xinhua News Agency.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday inspected the joint operations command center of the Central Military Commission (CMC), demonstrating the stance of the new CMC on implementing the guiding principles of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and enhancing troop training and combat preparedness.

Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chairman of the CMC, and commander-in-chief of the CMC joint operations command center, said the entire military should devote all its energy to and carry out all its work for combat readiness, enhance its capability to fight and win, and effectively fulfill its missions and tasks in the new era.

The centenary goals of the PLA were first brought up in the communique of the fifth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC in 2020, in which the Party noted the general centenary goals for the military:

“全会提出，加快国防和军队现代化，实现富国和强军相统一。贯彻习近平强军思想，贯彻新时代军事战略方针，坚持党对人民军队的绝对领导，坚持政治建军、改革强军、科技强军、人才强军、依法治军，加快机械化信息化智能化融合发展，全面加强练兵备战，提高捍卫国家主权、安全、发展利益的战略能力，确保二〇二七年实现建军百年奋斗目标。”

"Accelerate the modernization of national defense and the military and the integrated efforts to build a prosperous country and a strong military. Implement Xi Jinping's thinking on strengthening the military, implement the military strategy for the new era, and maintain the Party’s absolute leadership over the people’s armed forces, continue to enhance political loyalty in the military, strengthen the military through reform, science and technology, and personnel training, and run the military in accordance with the law, accelerate the integrated development of the military through mechanization, informatization, and the application of smart technologies, intensify troop training and enhance combat preparedness across the board, enhance the military’s strategic capabilities for defending China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests to ensure that the goals for the centenary of the PLA in 2027 will be achieved. "

Moreover, achieving the goals for the centenary of the People’s Liberation Army in 2027 and more quickly elevating our people’s armed forces to world-class standards 如期实现建军一百年奋斗目标，加快把人民军队建成世界一流军队 was also mentioned in the report to the recently concluded 20th CPC National Congress [Downloadable].

But despite its repeated coverage and reference, the centenary goals of the PLA in 2027 have never been explicitly defined in the public discourse, unlike China’s two other better-known centenary goals -- to complete building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by the time the CPC celebrates its centenary in 2021, and to start building a great modern socialist country in all respects by the time the PRC celebrates its centenary in 2049.

So what does the PLA plan to achieve in five years? Why the PLA's centenary goals are that important to China and how will the Chinese military fulfill them?

Today’s reading - an article written by Xu Qiliang 许其亮, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission (CMC), titled "How to fulfill the goals for the centenary of the PLA" 如期实现建军一百年奋斗目标 and published in one of the recently published books bearing the name of 辅导读物 Tutorial Readings, might offer some clues.

The articles in the books are written by senior Chinese officials, including the one by Xu Qiliang which is highlighted in the 目录 Table of Contents below.

In most cases, immediately after a plenary session of a CPC Central Committee or key events such as the Party's National Congress, such tutorial readings will be published, as it is usually put, to help people learn and implement the spirit of the certain event.

In today's newsletter, GRR offers you a full-text translation of Xu's article. Xu's article is divided into three parts, in which he explained 1) why the PLA's centenary goals are important, 2) overall objectives to be achieved in realizing the PLA’s centenary goals and 3) overarching principles to follow in order to achieve these goals.

XuQiliang gives a speech at group discussions of the 20th CPC National Congress on Oct. 16.

Again, the 4,000-word article offers just a glimpse of how the military of the world’s largest population and 2nd largest economy plans to evolve itself in the face of changing international landscapes and fast-progressing technologies. It is not the purpose of this review to outline nor predict specific roadmaps nor strategies of the PLA’s future development.

Nonetheless, Ginger River believes that the article is an essential reference for China Watchers to understand the logic behind China's military development, taking into account that even as Chinese officials have reiterated time and again that “China always upholds a defense policy that is defensive in nature, (and that) China develops necessary military capabilities to defend its legitimate national security interests," some Western hawkish narrative and tough talk on China's threat kept coming out.

Open speculation by some US military brass that China may move to seize Taiwan by 2027, if not sooner, is based on China’s internal goal for military modernization -- 2027 is the centennial of the People’s Liberation Army -- or by strategists’ concern that US forces need to be ready soon to counter any such attack, according to Joel Wuthnow, a senior research fellow at the National Defense University’s Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs.

“People got obsessed with this 2027 date as if this was some sort of political timeline” for the Chinese Communist Party, “and I think it was mischaracterized,” Wuthnow said. “It’s about readiness. It’s about preparedness. It’s not about, ‘I have made a decision and you will do this in 2027.’”

Please note that the selection of the article and this post do not represent any official document or views, as this is just a personal newsletter. It was also not possible for Ginger River to translate all the articles in the books, but he will try to find time to offer you some other pieces from the tutorial readings if possible.

Ginger River’s friend, Tsong Wong, the founder of Daily Dose of China News, an informative telegram channel for China Watchers, Weili Hou and Xiaohua Yu also contributed to today’s post.

If you find any errors, please send us an email: jjiang.sisu@hotmail.com.

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Fulfilling the Goals for the Centenary of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in 2027

The Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) called for achieving the goals for the centenary of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in 2027 and more quickly elevating the people's armed forces to world-class standards. In the report, the CPC also made a series of strategic arrangements to achieve the goals. It fully demonstrates the determination and willpower of the Central Committee of the CPC with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core to build and strengthen national defense and make the people’s armed forces strong. It is also a strategic task for building a modern socialist country in all respects. We should thoroughly study and implement the major decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and put focus on the goals for the centenary of the PLA. We should strengthen the Party building across the board in the people’s armed forces, intensify troop training and enhance combat preparedness across the board, strengthen all-round military governance, and make continued efforts to break new ground in the modernization of national defense and the military.

I. Achieve the goals for the centenary of the PLA, and better fulfill the missions and tasks set by the Party for the people’s armed forces

In retrospect, the PLA has gone through 95 glorious years. Under the leadership of the CPC, the people’s armed forces were created and developed, and took part in operations and battles. Over the years, the people’s armed forces have always held high the banner of the Party, stayed true to its original aspiration, and maintained its nature and purpose. Along the way, the people’s armed forces have overcome countless obstacles and secured resounding victories one after another, earning great honors for the Party and the people. These achievements made the people’s armed forces a staunch pillar in safeguarding the political power of the Party and the dignity of the Chinese nation, as well as a powerful force in safeguarding regional and world peace. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, based on realizing the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the CPC Central Committee, the Central Military Commission (CMC), and Chairman of the CMC Xi Jinping set out the Party’s goal of building a strong military for the new era, mapped out military strategies for the new era, defined the missions and tasks of the people’s armed forces for the new era, made solid efforts to enhance political loyalty in the military, strengthen the military through reform, science and technology and personnel training, run the military in accordance with the law, took robust actions to modernize national defense and the military, and secured historic achievements in the cause of strengthening the military. During the process, we have always upheld the Party’s absolute leadership over the people’s armed forces and thoroughly implemented the system of ultimate responsibility resting with the chairman of the Central Military Commission across the board. We held a meeting on military political work in Gutian [in 2014] and improved political conduct through rectification initiatives, resolutely enforced Party discipline, and combated corruption. As a result, we boosted soldiers’ morale, consolidated the backbone of the military and revived the qualities of the Red Army. We have acted with resolve to focus the entire military’s attention on combat readiness, provided new military strategic guidance that is in line with the needs of the times, expanded the strategic forces and new-domain forces with new combat capabilities, pushed ahead with training under combat conditions step by step. We effectively responded to external military provocations, deterred separatists seeking “Taiwan independence,” intensified border controls and the fight against foreign encroachment, and undertaken major missions such as safeguarding maritime rights, countering terrorism and maintaining stability, creating favorable conditions for military struggles. We have taken bold and resolute actions to deepen the reforms of national defense and the military, and restructured the military leadership and command system, the modern armed forces system, and the military policy system, which has brought new systems, new structures, a new configuration, and a new look to the people’s armed forces. We have accelerated the modernization of national defense and the military, made all-around efforts in innovation in defense-related science and technology, provided powerful modern logistics, and sped up the development of weapons. With domestically-developed aircraft carriers, new nuclear-powered submarines, J-20 fighter jets, Y-20 transport aircraft, and Dongfeng series missiles in place, the people’s armed forces have become a much more modern and capable fighting force, and the Chinese path to building a strong military is growing ever broader. Fundamentally, these historic achievements should be attributed to the strong leadership of Chairman (of CMC) Xi Jinping and the scientific guidance from Xi Jinping’s thinking on strengthening the military.

In five years, the PLA will celebrate its 100th birthday. In the Chinese path to building a strong military, the heroic people’s armed forces will take big strides toward world-class standards. With absolute loyalty to the Party and the people, with powerful and reliable strategic capabilities, the PLA will become a mighty one with good conduct, one that can fight and win. It will provide strategic support for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and make greater contributions to world peace and development as well as the advances in human civilization. Therefore, the goals for the centenary of the PLA are of great and far-reaching significance as they organically align the historic mission of the Party, the strategic needs of the nation, and the missions and tasks of the military, enrich the meanings of the Party’s goal of building a strong military for the new era, and map out the central task in military building for the next five years.

(I) This is a major decision meeting the times’ needs for building a strong country with a strong military. Through unremitting efforts, the Chinese nation experienced a great transformation from standing up and growing prosperous to becoming strong. The rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is now on an irreversible historical course. But the process will not be easy and smooth, so we must be prepared to make more arduous efforts. A strong country must have a strong military, as only then can it guarantee the security of the nation. On the new journey ahead in the new era, China is faced with new strategic opportunities, tasks, stages, requirements and environment, as the world, the times and history are changing more drastically. In this context, if we focus on the goals for the centenary of the PLA and ensure that the modernization of national defense and the military fits into the modernization of the nation and that military capabilities suit the strategic needs of the country, the military will be strong enough to provide support for the country to grow strong.

(II) This is a major task concerning overall national security and development. Development is the foundation of security, while security is the condition for development. To hold a holistic approach to national security and to provide strong support for building a modern socialist country, military forces are always the last resort. As the world has entered a new period of turbulence and changes, instabilities and uncertainties are growing in national security, bringing many security challenges in all directions and domains. So, we must build up strong powerful military capabilities, which means in peaceful times, we can stabilize the situation, and in war times, we can fight and win. Only in this way can the country hold the bottom line of national security and keep the strategic initiative in the ever-changing international landscape. Therefore, the goals for the centenary of the PLA conform to the profound changes of national security in the new era, of which the connotations and extensions, time and space, as well as internal and external factors are no longer the same. The goals also suit China’s pressing demand for military capabilities due to the country is shifting from growing big to growing strong. Achieving the goals will certainly prompt the military to develop its strategic capabilities at a faster pace.

(III) This is a crucial step of the new “three-step” development strategy to modernize national defense and the military. In the historical course of building China into a modern socialist country in all respects and advancing toward the Second Centenary Goal, the Party outlined the new “three-step” development strategy for the modernization of national defense and the military after fully taking into account factors such as overall national security and development, and the smooth transition in military modernization. The plan aims to fulfill the goals for the centenary of the PLA in 2027, basically complete the modernization of national defense and the armed forces by 2035, and fully transform the armed forces into world-class forces by the mid-21st century. The strategy created a phased development blueprint for the cause of building a strong military in the new era in the short-, medium- and long-term. The success of the first step plays a decisive role in the whole plan. Kicking off with a good start will provide acceleration for the other two steps. Therefore, to fulfill the goals for the centenary of the PLA will certainly need better tactics, higher efficiency and faster speed in modernizing the national defense and the military and achieve a leapfrog development.

Fulfilling the goals for the centenary of the PLA on time is the will of the Party and the expectation of the people. Therefore, the people’s armed forces must shoulder the grave responsibility of the times, and gave answers to the test of the history. Due to unremitting efforts, especially the work done over the past five years and great transformations over the past decade in the new era, we have laid a solid foundation for the goals, and a step closer to build world-class forces in all respects. On a new journey in the new era, the leadership of Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping and the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping’s thinking on strengthening the military remain to be the driving force, the direction, and the future for the cause of building a strong military, representing the most fundamental political guarantee. The entire military should, with unwavering resolve and determination and a greater sense of urgency, work hard and make down-to-earth efforts to march courageously toward the direction pointed out by the Party and continually break new ground for the cause of building a strong military.

II. Fulfilling the goals for the centenary of the PLA fundamentally points to enhancing strategic capabilities for defending China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests across the board

It is a strategic arrangement made at the 20th CPC National Congress to fulfill the goals for the centenary of the PLA in 2027. It is of distinctive political,and strategic meaning and boils down to the task of fully enhancing the ability to fight and win. The military must intensify troop training and enhance combat preparedness across the board and defend China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests with stronger capabilities and more reliable means.

(I) Provide new military strategies and combat guidance. The core of military strategic guidance lies in keeping up with the needs of the times and the situation. So we must adapt to the new requirements of national development strategy and security strategy, providing new military strategic guidance suited to the needs of the times, adjusting and optimizing the military strategic layout, improving the military strategic system for the new era, and injecting new meanings into the military strategy of active defense. Modern wars underwent major changes in the concept of winning, and the factors and methods for winning. The military must thoroughly study the characteristics of informatized and intelligent warfare and the laws that govern it, figure out what a war will look like in the future and how to fight in such wars, and elevate the combat planning and guidance to a higher level. The military should pay great attention to warfare research, look carefully at the most recent local wars in the world and draw lessons from former combats of people’s armed forces. At the same time, the military should learn more about core combat concepts and theories, think of new ways of fighting a war and deploying military forces, and create diversified combat tactics and methods, and earn the initiative in future battlefields. We must coordinate war preparedness and war prevention, deterrence and real combat, as well as wartime operations and military forces deployment in peaceful times. We must coordinate military work in all directions and domains, including military competition, struggle and warfare, so as to shape a secure environment, contain and manage crises and conflicts, and win local wars.

(II) Build high-level strategic deterrence and joint operations systems. The strategic deterrence system is the cornerstone a country can rely on in superpower confrontations. To enhance the military capabilities in deterring and defeating the enemy, we should stick to the principle of asymmetric counterbalance, that is, selecting development directions wisely, concentrating on developing what the enemy fears, boosting the strategic forces, and increasing strategic leverage the military can use against the enemy. The joint operations system is a crucial safeguard for winning modern wars. The military should build a smooth and efficient command system for joint operations, create a fighting force system with the elite force as the backbone, and strengthen the network information system, which is the foundation. Besides, the military should enhance its systems and capacity for reconnaissance and early warning, joint strikes, battlefield support, and integrated logistics support, and work faster to boost the capabilities for joint combat and combat across all domains. The importance of commanding has grown exponentially in modern wars, thus the military must strengthen the two-tiered joint operations commanding institution combining the Central Military Commission and the theaters, improve commanding mechanisms, develop state-of-the-art commanding means, and enhance the efficiency of commanding. Another prominent characteristic of modern wars is deploying elite fighting forces to carry out targeted operations. Accordingly, we must accelerate the transformation and building of military branches and the armed police forces, optimize the structure of the internal force, and integrate into the system as well as support the system, to push the military’s fighting force system and combat capabilities to a higher level on the whole.

(III)Strengthen military forces in emerging areas. The military should continue integrated development of the military through mechanization, informatization, the application of smart technologies and increase the proportion of new-domain forces with new combat capabilities. Both are important for gaining the initiative in military competition and future wars. With the new round of technological revolution and military reform progressing rapidly, advanced technologies of strategic importance have sprung up. The most recent local wars and military operations across the world have witnessed the widespread application of unmanned, intelligent combat systems. Therefore, new-domain forces with new combat capabilities have become a crucial factor that changes the rules of war. We must plan systemically, speed up the development of strategic, cutting-edge and revolutionary technologies, strengthen the breakthroughs in core intelligent technologies, key softwares and hardwares, and basic theories, as well as create an intelligent military system with its own characteristics. The military must improve the structure and composition of the armed forces, and speed up the development of unmanned, intelligent combat capabilities while striving to integrate new combat forces into the combat system as the main force and the lead role. The military should keep a close watch on security threats in new fields, make strategic preparations in advance, strengthen experiments with new technologies, equipment and combat methods in operations, and expand the efficient supply of advanced combat capabilities.

(IV) Transform and upgrade military training. Military training under combat conditions is a basic method to develop strategic capabilities, and an important instrument in promoting the modernization of national defense and the military. As military training enters a new phase of all-around reforms and overall enhancement, we should accelerate the pace in transforming and upgrading military training. We must stick to carrying out military training under combat conditions, conducting joint task force training, applying science and technology to shore up training, and running military training in accordance with the law. We must encourage the fighting spirit of fearing neither hardship nor death, and push training to a higher level and improve the military’s abilities to fight and win across the board. Joint training is a must for modern warfare preparedness. So the military should follow the guiding principle of joint task force training, organize training operations of different military branches based on joint task force training, and support the joint task force training with the training operations of different military branches. The principle must be implemented in the planning and organizing of military training operations. We must put an emphasis on the entire system, all factors, and the whole process in training. We must set focus on combat tasks, rivals and the environment and organize military training to test the capabilities of the armed forces. We must develop a joint task force training system with the PLA characteristics, and accelerate the pace in enhancing joint combat capabilities. Technology holds the key to innovation in military training. The military should strengthen the application of technology in training, reinforce military training with new equipment, and new combat forces in new areas, develop simulation-, networking- and confrontation-based training, explore training methods such as “Technology Plus” and “Network Plus,” increase the cost effectiveness of training, and promote a shift in the training model.

(V) Create an enabling environment in which combat capabilities, military building and combat preparedness are enhanced in an integrated manner. Simultaneously carrying out operations, boosting combat preparedness, and enhancing military capabilities are distinctive characteristics and guiding principles of the people’s armed forces in the next five years and even in the longer run. The military must make coordinated efforts to improve the combat capability of the military, the quality of military building, and the level of combat preparedness. The military should remain both steadfast and flexible in carrying out military operations, and always plan and guide military operations with political awareness and for the overall national interests. When it comes to issues concerning China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the military must fight for every inch of land and yield right over no ground. We must be brave to fight and capable of fighting, especially in foiling the attempts of separatists and foreign forces to seek “Taiwan independence,” so that the core national interests stay unharmed and political and strategic initiative are secured. We must see to it that efforts to enhance combat capabilities to guide and reinforce military building, that our work and resources in various fields center on and serve for combat preparedness. We must shore up the weak links in the military’s combat system and make combat capabilities the sole and fundamental criterion in the whole process and all respects of military building. The military must prepare an adequate supply of war reserves and improve emergency capacity building, put in place a mechanism for a quick switch from a peacetime posture and the state of war, take into account all possible circumstances, and always stay on high alert to ensure that the military is ready for fight and able to fight at any time.

[This is the end of the first and second parts of the article. To view the third part about the overarching principles to follow in order to achieve the PLA’s goals, download the full-text version made by GRR on Google Drive (Link has been updated). As noted above, Ginger River has spent lots of time and effort in translating the article for public service, so please share this post if you find it useful to help make Ginger River Review sustainable.]

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