The Chinese Ministry of National Defense on May 26, 2015 issued a white paper on China’s Military Strategy which amongst other things enunciated the policy of ‘Active Defense’. This is yet another step by the Chinese government to reinforce the importance of ‘China Dream’ and this time through the prism of armed forces highlighting the role of a strong military to keep the country safe. Externally, it is a sign that China is ready to take active part in global politics and change the contours favourably.
Highlights
As far as the global political overview is concerned, China recognizes global trends toward multi-polarity and that profound change is taking place in the international situation, as manifested in global balance of power, governance structure, Asia-Pacific geostrategic landscape, and international competition in the economic, scientific,technological, and military fields[i]. It further highlights that new threats are arising due to hegemonism, power politics and neo-interventionism. There is international competition for the redistribution of power, rights and interests. However; China appears confident that the new environment will aid China in its development and China’s international standing and influence will increase.
China considers Asia-Pacific region as the world’s economic and strategic center of gravity. Further, it identifies South China Sea as a conflict zone. It, blatantly blamed its neighbours for initiating provocative actions and also reinforcing their military presence on China’s reefs and islands. There is also a veiled warning to US, for meddling in the affairs of South China Sea. The constant close-in air and sea surveillance and reconnaissance activities against China have not gone unnoticed. In all probability, one can expect in future a verbal or naval brinkmanship in this area.
On Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA), by recognising the areas of modernisation, it can be construed that China is working to improve its own Long-range, precise, smart, stealthy and unmanned weapons and equipment and that in future ‘outer space and cyber space’ will remain its areas of concern. China is closely monitoring the challenges in new security domains, and shall work to seize the strategic initiative in military competition.
As far as ‘Active Defense’, the strategic concept of China’s military strategic thought is concerned, it boils down to key parameters of: adherence to the unity of strategic defense along with operational and tactical offense; following the principles of defense, self-defense and post-emptive strike and finally with an adherence to the stance that “We will not attack unless we are attacked, but we will surely counterattack if attacked.” This they have meticulously prepared by making high technology, as the basic point in Preparation for Military Struggle (PMS). The function of PMS will be to win local wars through a process of informationalization. China’s armed forces are responsible for the overall planning for PMS in both traditional and new security domains. This will be done through a process of upgrading of weaponry and equipment as well as changes in operational patterns. In short, they have further widened their strategic vision, modernised their strategic thinking and made strategic guidance more forward-looking.
As far as training is concerned, Chinese believe in realistic training where they have given strategic importance to combat training in realistic conditions and for building large-scale comprehensive training bases in an effort to provide real-combat environments for training. In Critical Security Domains, the ‘Outer Space and Cyber Space’ are significant areas which will impact the overall security of a country. Chinese concerns for international strategic competition in cyberspace and hacker attacks on critical infrastructure are the areas which need attention.
Implications for India
China’s PLA Navy’s (PLAN) gradual shift of focus from “offshore waters defense” to the combination of “offshore waters defense” with “open seas protection,” and build a combined, multi-functional and efficient marine combat force structure’ clearly highlights its blue water aspirations. Their clear assessment of ‘the traditional mentality that land outweighs sea must be abandoned, and great importance has to be attached to managing the seas and oceans and protecting maritime rights and interests’ is a pointer that in coming years PLAN will play a decisive role in protecting the security of strategic SLOCs and overseas interests. To achieve this they have already started developing a modern maritime military force structure. Their operational maritime capabilities are also improving. The Chinese ships have regularly made port calls in the Indian Ocean region and the increased presence of Chinese submarine clearly indicate their intentions. As far as military modernisation is concerned the impetus has been to strengthen its conventional capabilities along with strategic deterrence and nuclear counterattack, with medium- and long-range precision strikes warheads. India needs to ensure that it modernises, indigenizes and procures weapons on time so that the strategic gap does not get widened. It also needs to develop its border area infrastructure as this is one area where China has done tremendous progress, by building roads bridges and tunnels through areas which have a difficult geographical terrain. They have also given impetus to training and their intention to intensify training in complex electro-magnetic environments, complex and unfamiliar terrains, and complex weather conditions is an indicator that they want to overcome challenges in the Tibetan sector.
Conclusion
This White Paper on China’s Military Strategy is a comprehensive document and entails all aspects of security and force projection. Clearly, the intentions are to project China’s military role in a changing paradigm. The veiled warning of China’s counter attack, if its core areas were threatened, and the elaboration of China’s intentions in South China Sea is an indicator that the neighbours need to re-strategies their options. The negotiations need to be in a bilateral framework, thus indicating the curtailment of the outside influence in this region. The increasing role of PLAN is a pointer that the littoral states in the Indian Ocean Region can expect more Chinese presence and participation in the maritime security architecture. Thus China through this paper has made its intentions of global dominance amply clear.
[i] Document: China’s Military Strategy, USNI News at http://news.usni.org/2015/05/26/document-chinas-military-strategy