[infowar.de] China Investing in Information Warfare Technology, Doctrine

[Ralf Bendrath <bendrath -! - zedat - fu-berlin - de>]

http://www.iwar.org.uk/news-archive/2005/07-20-2.htm

China Investing in Information Warfare Technology, Doctrine

By Kathleen T. Rhem
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2005 – China appears to be taking a page from U.S. 
doctrine and working to improve its information warfare capabilities, 
according to a comprehensive DoD report on Chinese military power released 
July 19.

In 2004, China introduced a new term in the country's military doctrine: 
"local wars under conditions of informationalization."

In DoD's 2005 report to Congress on China's military power, defense 
officials explain this term refers to the People's Liberation Army's 
"emphasis on information technology as a force multiplier."

A senior defense official, speaking on background, said the Chinese watch 
advances in U.S. doctrine carefully. "Every time we're involved in a 
campaign, there's a spate of articles (in China) analyzing it," the 
official said. "Sometimes they put themselves in the shoes of our 
opponent; sometimes they try to see, 'What can we emulate that the 
Americans have done?'"

The official said the Chinese military has a long way to go in C4ISR -- 
command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, 
and reconnaissance -- but they're clearly doing research and development 
into such capabilities.

China is also using advances in C4ISR to project military power farther 
> from its own borders. Over the long term, the report states, China's 
advances in these areas "could enable Beijing to identify, target, and 
track foreign military activities deep into the western Pacific and 
provide, potentially, hemispheric coverage."

China introduced the term "local wars under conditions of 
informationalization" in its December 2004 Defense White Paper to describe 
the type of war the PLA must be prepared to fight and win.

U.S. defense officials are still working to understand the implications of 
the new concept. But the July 19 DoD report on China power states the term 
appears to sum up "China's experiences and assessments of the implications 
of the revolution in military affairs -- primarily the impact of 
information technology and knowledge-based warfare on the battlefield."

Through studying U.S. and other allied operations in the past decade, the 
PLA is beginning to understand the importance of joint development in 
C4ISR capabilities. The report states that such ambitions can be traced to 
lessons learned from U.S. and allied operations since the Persian Gulf 
War. Still, China is working to overcome an overall lack of joint 
operations and operational experience in general.

China's 2004 White Paper shows that Chinese officials understand they're 
on the short end of an expanding technology gap, according to the U.S. 
defense report. China's leaders, including President Hu Jintao, have 
ordered the PLA to pursue "leap ahead" technologies and 
"informationalized" capabilities to increase weapons' mobility, firepower 
and precision, the U.S. report states.

The report quotes from a May 2003 article by PLA Deputy Chief of the 
General Staff Xiong Guangkai, stating that the PLA should push forward 
"military reform with Chinese characteristics."

"We should study and draw on the experiences and lessons of various 
countries in making military changes, including all the local wars fought 
under high-tech conditions," Xiong reportedly wrote, "but we should not 
mechanically copy other countries' patterns of military changes."

Related Sites:

2005 China Military Power Report

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