Chinese leader Xi Jinping has commanded the regime’s military to focus on “preparing for war,” as Beijing looks to make a splash in 2021—the year marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). . . .

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He ordered the PLA to “focus on preparing for war, deepen the transformation of military training, build a new type of military training system, and comprehensively improve the level of combat training and ability to win,” according to Chinese state media Xinhua. . . . .

Xi also emphasized the role of technology in military training and combat, describing science and technology as a “core idea in combat effectiveness.”

The Chinese regime has embarked on an aggressive military modernization plan in a bid to challenge the dominance of the U.S. armed forces. . . .

In 2020, Beijing’s stated defense budget was $178 billion, roughly a quarter of U.S. defense spending that year, although experts estimate that the amount was much higher. According to a March 2020 report, the CCP’s military spending is 87 percent that of the United States’ defense budget.

The CCP also uses a “civil-military fusion” strategy to harness technological developments from the private sector to fuel its military modernization. The U.S. administration has blocked visas for graduate-level Chinese students tied to institutions that support this strategy in a bid to guard against the transfer of American technology to Beijing.  . . .

Xi concluded that the PLA must “resolutely implement” the instructions from the top decision-making body within the CMC, and “carry forward the spirit of fighting without fear of hardship or death.”

In October 2020, Xi told the country’s marines to focus “all [their] minds and energy into preparing for war.” Later, the CCP’s top decision-making body met and discussed “preparing for war by integrating political work into all links [chain of command] of combat effectiveness.” . . . .

Last year, the Chinese regime sharply escalated pressure on Taiwan by ramping up military activity across the Taiwan Strait. The CCP considers the self-ruled island as part of its territory and has never ruled out using force to bring it under the party’s control.

The United States, meanwhile, has increased its cooperation with Taiwan. Last year, it approved several large arms sales to Taiwan and deepened diplomatic engagements with the island.

(Excerpt from The Epoch Times. Article by Cathy He. Photo Credit: Getty Images.)

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