Unite and Strengthen the Military for a New Start—Military Delegates and Members Discuss the Implementation of the "14th Five-Year Plan" for Military Development

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 9—
Topic: United Efforts to Get Back on the Road Again—Military Representatives and Members Discuss Implementing the “15th Five-Year Plan” for Military Building

Xinhua News Agency reporters Mei Shixiong and Li Bingxuan

In the draft outline of the “15th Five-Year Plan” submitted on March 5 for review by the fourth session of the 14th National People’s Congress, it states that “the goal of奋斗向建军一百年 will be achieved on schedule and the modernization of national defense and the armed forces will be promoted of high quality.”

Consolidating national defense and building a strong military are strategic support for Chinese-style modernization. Military representatives and members taking part in the Two Sessions said the blueprint has been drawn. The mission calls for urgent action. They should pool up immense strength to achieve the goal of奋斗向建军一百年 on schedule and to promote the high-quality modernization of national defense and the armed forces.

“Every time I return from a voyage and see the high-rise buildings in the distance and the lights in every household, I feel that our efforts are truly worth it,” said Ai Yingshun, a representative from a naval submarine force. “We need a shield strong enough so peace won’t be easily broken by others. We also need the confidence to keep our adversaries alert, so we can live our lives steadily and pursue development. As the country’s strategic nuclear shield, as we press forward with the ‘15th Five-Year Plan,’ we deeply feel that our responsibilities are重大. We must forge the ‘underwater steel Great Wall’ and firmly lay the foundation for the country’s strategic security.”

Despite the tight schedule on the conference agenda, Yuan Wei, a senior engineer from a unit in the Central Theater Command, still makes time to call his team members to discuss the progress of the development of a certain system. In recent years, he has closely focused on bottleneck problems that urgently need to be solved for preparing for war and fighting. He led the team to develop more than 10 sets of software systems independently, greatly improving the efficiency of operational planning. Yuan Wei said, “As participants in joint operations command institutions, we should proactively embrace technological change, promote the reconfiguration of command workflows, strengthen data sharing and human-machine coordination, improve the effectiveness of joint operations command, and firmly seize the initiative in modern warfare.”

“Currently, the form of war is accelerating in the direction of intelligent, unmanned, and space-and-air integration. Technology has become the most active and most decisive factor among core military capabilities,” said Gu Qingyue, a deputy professor at the Air Force Engineering University. “We must step up national defense science and technology innovation and the transformation of advanced technologies, and accelerate the development of advanced weapons and equipment.”

As a grassroots serviceman on the frontline of national defense construction, Tan Wuxiang is greatly encouraged by the draft outline of the “15th Five-Year Plan” regarding the deployment to speed up the building of advanced combat capabilities. “In the future, engineering support will gradually realize mechanization, unmanned systems, and intelligence, which will greatly change the working modes of the construction frontline,” Tan Wuxiang said. “As a senior non-commissioned officer, I will continue to refine the new equipment, study and apply new equipment, and turn technical advantages into tangible battlefield advantages.”

In the view of Song Xia’ou, a deputy professor at the PAP Engineering University, the military communications and navigation teaching and research she engages in cannot be separated from combat practice. She said, “Teaching in military academies must connect with future high-tech battlefields. We should build a teaching system oriented toward practical use in war, supported by case-based instruction, and centered on enhancing cadets’ abilities to innovate and think critically, and form a contingent of high-quality, specialized, new-type military talent.”

Speaking about strengthening the modernization of border and maritime-and-air defense, Hai Jinhang, a company platoon leader of a regiment in the Army Border Defense force, said he felt deeply moved. In 2017, he graduated and came to a border defense unit, stepping onto the patrol route for the first time. Back then, he and his comrades had to carry dozens of kilograms of supplies, walk for more than ten days on foot, and head to posts at points with elevations of more than 4,000 meters to stand watch. “Now roads have been built to the outposts; the transport of supplies has ‘gained wings,’ and patrol and duty have acquired an ‘aerial thousand-li eye,’” he said. “To strengthen modern border and maritime-and-air defense, we must keep a close watch on frontier technologies, build an intelligent command-and-control system that combines human defense, physical defense, and technical defense, so that every inch of the country’s territory is as solid as rock.”

Artificial-intelligence-assisted medical imaging diagnosis helps doctors make precise diagnoses of injuries and illnesses; unmanned equipment is integrated into the battlefield casualty treatment chain, linking up the “last mile”; 5G remote guidance enables robotic operators so that plateau servicemen and personnel can receive top-expert technical services at grassroots hospitals… Zhang Ying, a member and director of the Department of Critical Care Medicine at the 941st Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force, describes for reporters the application scenarios of technology empowering medical and health support. “Medical and health support is a key enabling support for safeguarding servicemen’s life and health and winning future wars. The role that technology empowers is becoming increasingly evident in this regard,” she said. “More and more emerging technological achievements can be effectively transformed into practical applications, helping improve battlefield casualty treatment capability—this is our expectation and also the direction we strive for.”

Continue to deepen political education and rectification and carry forward fine traditions. Peng Wanqin, a grassroots leader responsible for leading troops from a unit of the Rocket Force, said, “With the ‘15th Five-Year Plan’ ahead, we need to combine the ongoing deepening of political education and rectification with carrying forward fine traditions. On the one hand, we will guide servicemen and personnel to clearly understand what must never be done, and that they must never harbor a second heart against the Party. On the other hand, we will guide them to understand what should be done, make the grassroots level a fertile ground for continuing fine traditions, and vigorously inherit and carry forward the fine traditions of our Party and our Army. Let the red gene be passed on from generation to generation, and let the new atmosphere of integrity and uprightness be even more abundant.”

“In January this year, relying on resources within our jurisdiction, we completed an investigation into potential for new domains and new-quality productive forces. Next, we will carry out the organization of militia units and targeted training,” said Fu Xiaoxiao, deputy minister in charge of military affairs and also director of the military department at the People’s Militia Department of Fuping County, Hebei Province. In his mind, national defense mobilization potential investigations, recruitment of personnel, and consolidating militia units are the major matters. The key phrase in the draft outline of the “15th Five-Year Plan” about “accelerating the construction of national defense mobilization capacity” is “contained” in these matters, he said. He added that standing at the starting line of the “15th Five-Year Plan,” national defense mobilization capacity building is no longer a question of whether it exists or how much there is, but a test of whether it is strong and whether it is effective.

Set out again from spring. “Striving for our dreams” and “striving for the cause of strengthening the armed forces” are the topics most discussed by military representatives and members. Everyone has expressed that looking ahead to the “15th Five-Year Plan,” we should maintain strategic resolve, dare to tackle the “tough nuts,” dare to storm the “dangerous shoals,” pool our strength and work with determination, and forge ahead to create a new situation in the modernization of national defense and the armed forces.

(Editor: Wen Jing)

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