PLA urgent to enhance capability of winning IT-based warfare

Major General Zhu Chenghu, professor of the National Defense University (NDU) of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), is delivering a speech.

Since future wars will be IT-based local wars, it is a must for the PLA troops to enhance their capability of winning informationalized warfare, a senior PLA officer said on Tuesday.

Major General Zhu Chenghu, professor of the PLA National Defense University (NDU), make the remarks in his lecture for the "China Senior Forum of International Studies 2015" on January 6, 2015.

Faced with high pressure of maritime security, China must develop the naval forces to safeguard its national maritime interests, Zhu Chenghu added.

Zhu Chenghu said the future war will be information-based local wars, featuring unprecedentedly high levels of intelligence.

As a result, there will be no concept of front or rear. Space, air, sea, ground, cyberspace, and even electromagnetic pulse space can be the target to strike. The information security will become the most vulnerable area for China.

Speaking of the US military strategic adjustment, Zhu Chenghu pointed out that the U.S. has adjusted its major threats from the previous terrorism to the present "anti-access" and "area denial", transferred the combat zones from the Middle East and the Central Asia to the western Pacific region, switched the combat mode from "air-land integrated battle" to "air-sea integrated battle", and changed the battle objectives from cracking down on terrorist organizations and terrorists to maintaining freedom of action in the western Pacific region.

The U.S. has never admitted his strategic purpose of containing China, but it has strengthened military deployment around China, transferred its strategic center to the Asian-Pacific region, carried out frequent close-in reconnaissance activities against China, conducted large-scale military exercises in the sea areas near China, and cast a bone between China and other countries.

Therefore, China must strengthen military building and the R&D of weaponry and equipment.

In his viewpoint, China should increase military investment, enhance the servicemen's abilities to win the IT-based wars, and improve the combat effectiveness.

In terms of the R&D of weaponry and equipment, China should accelerate the development of information infrastructure and information equipment, strengthen construction of the space force and strategic force with both nuclear and conventional attack and defense capabilities.

Zhu Chenghu also said that China has begun to attach importance to oceans in recent years, because on one hand, in face of the huge pressure of maritime security, China must protect its maritime rights and interests from being infringed upon by other countries, and on the other hand, the dependence of China's economic development on oceans has been unprecedentedly increased.

In terms of the maritime strength development, however, China is still lagging far behind the western countries.

To protect China's maritime interests, the only solution is to strengthen the naval force and accelerate the R&D of arms for sea battles.

At the end of his lecture, Zhu Chenghu noted that the military diplomacy is often more helpful than the dollar diplomacy or national diplomacy in resolving the external security problems China is confronted with. As China is getting stronger, the military diplomacy will play a bigger role in China's overall diplomacy.