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China: Xi Jinping asks PLA to step up recruitment to win future wars
Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed the need to recruit new talent to support the armed forces’ rapid modernisation and win future wars.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed the need to recruit new talent to support the armed forces’ rapid modernisation and win future wars.
Talent holds the key to advancing the high-quality development of the Chinese armed forces, achieving victory in the military competition, and gaining the upper hand in future wars, Xi told a conference on military talent-related work held from Friday to Sunday.
Besides being the general secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), Xi heads the Central Military Commission (CMC).
Strengthening the capabilities to fight and win should be the starting point and ultimate goal of military talent cultivation, Xi Jinping said, calling for “ great efforts to improve military personnel’s scientific literacy and technological know-how to improve their ability to win modern wars”.
“He also urged accelerating the building of first-class military schools and training of first-class military personnel,” the Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying at the conference.
Meanwhile, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Monday that the Chinese military has allocated resources for 300,000 troops for the frontline roles to encourage younger professionals to join the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
The new allocation comes amid the ongoing Sino-India military friction along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, which has plunged bilateral ties to their worst level in decades.
The air force, the rocket (missile) force, and the strategic supporting force were among others which however enlarged with more forces, the Post report said.
“The PLA airborne troop units were upgraded from division-level to brigades, while the number of pilots was also increased to support more new-generation fighter jets like the J-20s, J-16s, J-10Cs,” the newspaper quoted Chinese military sources as saying.
Xi Jinping’s goal is to turn the PLA into a modern fighting force by 2027, the PLA’s centennial, and a world-class military on a par with the United States by 2050.
The SCMP report quoted a CPC publication as reporting that China has expanded its combat forces to adapt to changing risks - despite a years-long push to streamline the PLA.
“In a book of commentaries published in mid-November by CPC mouthpiece People’s Daily, military commentator Zhong Xin said the PLA had been “optimising” its personnel structure by deploying more troops to combat roles after reducing three lakh troops,” the report added.
