Understanding China Better

 

PLA’s Strategy Textbook: Science of Military Strategy (SMS)

China has two premier institutes – the Academy of Military Sciences (AMS) and National Defence University (NDU). Over the last three decades, they have produced several editions of the publication titled Science of Military Strategy (SMS). SMS is the core textbook for senior PLA officers on how wars should be planned and conducted at the strategic level. The publication is considered to be a doctrinal teaching material and it provides a glimpse into the Chinese military thinking.

 

In August 2020, the latest version of SMS, influenced by structural military reforms adopted under Xi was published. The 2020 version as compared to the previous one of 2017 has some new additions. These include wartime political work, “intelligentisation” concepts, China’s military strategic guidelines, major war operations, joint logistics and the People’s Armed Police. The changes have been justified as necessity in order to “better adapt to the major trend in the form of warfare shifting from informationisation to intelligentisation.

 

The SMS is a 450 page document, divided into three parts with 24 chapters. The first part consists of general abstractions on strategic theory, planning, evaluation, and related topics. The second part covers special topics on strategic warfare, including crisis management and prevention, deterrence, war control, and operational guidance; it also includes chapters on military operations other than war and overseas operations. The third focuses on force development for each of the traditional services (army, navy, air force and rocket force), as well as space and cyber forces, the People’s Armed Police (PAP) and reserve forces.

Key Changes in the 2020 Version

 

1. Emphasis on Wartime Political Work. One of the most interesting updates is the addition of a section on wartime political work. The section starts with a statement that the wartime political work consists of the thought work and organizational work of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in carrying out military’s operations. It emphasises on the need to explore a new model of political work and information and network operations, involving the more active use of social media platforms. The section identifies the main features of wartime political work to include:

• Unifying the thinking of war
• Guaranteeing robust party organizations.
• Stimulating combat spirit.
• Strengthening military propaganda and news control.
• Breaking enemy resolve.

Comments.

The publication justifies inclusion based on the changing character of warfare, however, it seems to be consistent with CCP General Secretary and Central Military Commission (CMC) Chairman Xi Jinping’s emphasis on improving party control over the military.

 

2. Increased Focus on Intelligentization. The 2020 revision expands on references to intelligentization. It covers military modernization defined by the battlefield introduction of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology, biotechnology, hypersonics, unmanned autonomous systems and big data analysis. PLA analysts have studied these issues for some years but have included them now in the doctrinal teaching material.

Comments.

China is looking at future technologies in the process of modernisation of its defence forces and is investing a lot in them.

 

3. Military Strategic Guidelines. Military strategic guidelines function as China’s military strategy. They are periodically updated by the Central Military Commission but have not been made public. The new guidelines stress on PLA to adapt or innovate. In the new additions references have been made to an “advanced stage” of joint operations consisting  of a high level of operational coordination across domains, including land, sea, air, space, cyber and the electromagnetic spectrum, and also the cognitive domain.

 Comments.

The new statements indicate a shift from “integrated joint operations” to “multi-domain integrated joint operations”.

 

4. Focus on Strategic Reconnaissance. Strategic reconnaissance and strategic early warning have been added to the characteristics and requirements of major types of war operations. These operations have been described as a “cornerstone of national security” and an “important constituent part of military struggle” consisting of intelligence collection, processing, and distribution (based on various platforms) to inform strategic decisions.

Comments

China has an advanced strategic reconnaissance capability. Its strength lies in space based surveillance and AI based systems.

 

5. Focus on Maritime Operations. The second new section discusses “maritime manoeuvre operations”, describing joint operations that aim to achieve control over “important sea areas” and “important maritime passages”. The text does not cite specific locations but notes that one key characteristic of these operations is “a rather long distance from one’s home territory, with large difficulties in operational support.

Comments

The document suggests investment in expeditionary capability. In coming years, China is likely to have six carrier battle group, blue water navy with capability to deploy two fleets (maybe one in pacific and one in Indian Ocean). Emphasis on fighting jointly also suggests that future combat operations in the “far seas” will be a team effort and not by a single individual service.

 

6. New Content on Joint Logistics. The chapter reviews key developments, which includes aspects related to precision delivery, military-civilian fusion, supply chain management, medical services, transportation and unmanned and intelligentised support capabilities. It also discusses how to improve various systems in the joint logistics force, including war reserves, command and control and training.

Comments

China’s Civil-Military fusion programme is a top driven and focused programme.

 

Comments and value additions are most welcome

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References

1. https://jamestown.org/program/what-i-learned-from-the-plas-latest-strategy-textbook/?mc_cid=80ee22ce1e&mc_eid=3daf554021

1. https://jamestown.org/program/chinas-new-military-strategy-winning-informationized-local-wars/.

2. https://jamestown.org/program/cognitive-domain-operations-the-plas-new-holistic-concept-for-influence-opera tions/.

3. https://doi.org/10.1080/14799855.2021.1880391.