Xi Urges New China Military Strategy for ‘Information Warfare’

By Bloomberg News  Aug 30, 2014 

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for more innovation in the country’s armed forces and a new strategy for “information warfare” amid a global “military revolution,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Xi said China must “strive to establish a new military doctrine, institutions, equipment systems, strategies and tactics and management modes” for information warfare, according to Xinhua. He spoke on Aug. 29 at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party Central Committee, the agency reported late yesterday.

The remarks from Xi, who is head of the party and the military, come amid escalating tension on intelligence issues with the U.S. In May, China said it will take action against the U.S. for prosecuting five of its military officers for alleged hacking, while the same month, the U.S. charged five Chinese with economic espionage.

Xi urged all party members to be more aware of military issues, defense and military building and military preparedness, and to give more support to the country’s national defense and military reforms, Xinhua reported.

Online attacks from a “specific country” have targeted Chinese companies, its military and important websites, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Geng Yansheng said in May.

In an indictment unsealed on May 19, the U.S. Justice Department charged Wang Dong, Sun Kailiang, Wen Xinyu, Huang Zhenyu and Gu Chunhui with economic espionage linked to computer hacking of American nuclear power, metals and solar companies.

Xi said that China should liberate ideas and concepts, and have the courage to change fixed mindsets on mechanized warfare and “establish the ideological concept on information warfare,” Xinhua reported.

Record Budget

To counter China’s growing military might, Japan’s Defense Ministry is seeking a record budget for the year starting April as it seeks to bolster defense of remote islands claimed by both nations. China said in March it would increase its defense budget by 12 percent.

China claims much of the South China Sea, which may be rich in energy and mineral deposits, under its “nine dash-line” map that extends hundreds of miles south from Hainan Island to equatorial waters off the coast of Borneo, taking in some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

In the East China Sea, Japan and China both lay claim to a chain of uninhabited islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. The U.S. has said it will come to Japan’s defense in any clash over the islands.