Xi Jinping presents flag to PLA Information Support Force

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has set up an information support force, and Chinese President Xi Jinping presented it with a flag at the establishment ceremony held on Friday in Beijing. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), stressed solid efforts to build a strong and modernized information support force.

Xi said that the establishment of the Information Support Force is a major decision that the CPC Central Committee and the CMC has made in light of the overall need of building a strong military.

Xi stressed that the Information Support Force is a new, strategic branch of the military and a key pillar in coordinating the construction and application of the network information system. It will play a crucial role in advancing the Chinese military’s highquality development and competitiveness in modern warfare. He ordered the force to resolutely obey the Party’s command, and make sure it stays absolutely loyal, pure and reliable.

Xi urged the force to integrate deeply into the Chinese military’s joint operation system, carry out information support operations in a precise and effective manner, and facilitate military operations in various directions and fields.

He also urged efforts to build a network information system that fulfills the requirements of modern warfare and features the Chinese military’s own characteristics, as well as efforts to accelerate the development of integrated combat capabilities more effectively. Xi met with members of the Information Support Force leadership and took a group photo with them. According to a decision made by the CMC, the Information Support Force is directly led by the CMC, and the official designation of the Strategic Support Force has been canceled.

It is a brand-new strategic arm of the PLA and a key underpinning of coordinated development and application of the network information system, which plays an important role and bears great responsibility in promoting highquality development and the ability to fight and win in modern warfare, Wu said. With the latest reform, the PLA now has a new system of services and arms under the leadership and command of the CMC, Wu said. There are four services, namely the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Rocket Force, and four arms – the Aerospace Force, the Cyberspace Force, the Information Support Force and the Joint Logistics Support Force – Wu noted.

As circumstances and tasks evolve, China will continue to refine the modern military force structure with Chinese characteristics, the spokesperson said.

In terms of the task that the Aerospace Force undertakes, Wu said China’s space policy is clear.

“We are committed to peaceful utilization of space and stand ready to work with all countries with the same commitment to strengthen exchanges, deepen cooperation and contribute to lasting peace and common security in space,” he said.