The PLA Western Theatre Command has focused on joint operations capabilities to counter the perceived lack of air superiority and information dominance in the theatre, which it believes is required for strike operations.
China’s varied winter planning logistics show a broader strategy to gain mastery over high-altitude conditions and increase combat preparedness against India.
Post 2015 reforms, the Western Theatre Command (WTC) of the PLA has been transforming itself into a joint theatre command that can fight wars against an adversary like India. Considering that India and China are involved in a border standoff, any strengthening of WTC’s combat capabilities is likely to have an immense impact on India.
Ajey Lele replies: The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is conscious of the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on war planning as well as war fighting and the global developments in this space. The PLA views AI as a symbiotic relationship between human and machine intelligence, with humans in a decisive role.
The PLA’s approach to COVID-19 has shown that the military reforms have im-mensely benefited their coordination and response. It has intensified China’s desire to maintain military preparedness and the resolve to demonstrate it too.
Since taking over power in 2012, the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s key initiative has been to make the Communist Party of China (CPC) relevant in the function of China’s political system. However, when Xi Jinping argues for a ‘unified and absolute leadership of the Party, it has become co-terminous with his absolute control of the Party. What does this centralisation of power signify? Given this context, it is imperative to question under whose control is the Chinese Army. That is, does CPC as an organisation hold absolute command over the PLA or it is Xi Jinping who controls it?
It will take some time before the PLA can claim to be a modern military, at par with Western armies, capable of undertaking extended global missions. But the PLA is poised for a “Giant Leap”, and that is bound to dramatically change the ‘balance of power’ dynamics.
Prashant Kumar Singh replies: The recently announced joint commands mark the next stage of China’s evolving military joint-ness or integrated warfare strategy. It is very much a part of China’s ongoing quest for integrated employment of the various components, mainly the three services (army, air force and navy), of its military in warfare. China began striving for joint-ness in early 1980s in the backdrop of its pyrrhic victory in the third Indo-China or Sino-Vietnam War in 1979.
The PLA and Intelligentised Warfare
China is making increasing use of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), among others, to modernise the People’s Liberation Army.