Xinhua News Agency Commentator: High-Quality Advancement of National Defense and Military Modernization
High-Quality Advancement of National Defense and Military Modernization
Xinhua News Agency Commentator
A strong country must have a strong military; only with a strong military can the nation be secure. The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee recently held its 27th collective study session on high-quality advancement of national defense and military modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over the session and delivered an important speech, summarizing the great practical experience of our Party in building and strengthening the military, and setting forth clear requirements and making important deployments for strengthening political guidance (政治引领), deepening innovation and development, and advancing national defense and military modernization with high quality during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period. This has pointed the way forward and provided the fundamental guidelines for achieving the centenary goal of army-building (建军一百年奋斗目标) on schedule and for driving decisive progress toward the basic realization of national defense and military modernization.
High-quality advancement of national defense and military modernization is an inherent requirement of advancing Chinese-path modernization (中国式现代化). Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has coordinated the overall strategic picture of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the once-in-a-century changes in the world, placed the strengthening and building of the military in a prominent position in the work of the Party and the state, unwaveringly upheld and strengthened the Party's absolute leadership over the military, clearly put forward the Party's goal of building a strong military in the new era, planned and implemented the new "three-step" strategy for national defense and military modernization, and comprehensively advanced political army-building (政治建军), reform-driven army-strengthening (改革强军), science-and-technology-driven army-strengthening (科技强军), talent-driven army-strengthening (人才强军), and law-based governance of the military (依法治军), simultaneously conducting struggle, war preparations, and construction. Our military's level of modernization and combat capability have improved significantly, and the cause of building a strong military has achieved historic accomplishments and undergone historic transformations.
Political army-building (政治建军) is the founding principle of the people's army and bears on the direction and fundamental character of national defense and military modernization. Political army-building addresses the fundamental questions of what banner the military raises, what path it follows, whose command it obeys, and for whom it fights. It concerns the overall situation of the Party and the military's cause, the future and destiny of the people's army, and the success or failure of the cause of building a strong military. We must uphold, apply, and develop political army-building as an important magic weapon, unwaveringly uphold and strengthen the Party's absolute leadership over the military, fully implement the strategy for political army-building in the new era, strengthen theoretical arming (理论武装), deepen ideological rectification (思想整风), solidly lay the ideological foundation for officers and soldiers to heed the Party and follow the Party, and ensure that the barrel of the gun forever obeys the Party's command. There must absolutely be no place in the military for corrupt elements to hide. We must deepen the anti-corruption struggle, improve the oversight system for major projects, establish strict supervisory rules, keep close watch on key links such as the flow of funds, the exercise of power, and quality control, strengthen civil-military integrated oversight (军地融合监督), ensure that construction is carried out under the premise of supervision, and ensure that all construction meets the bottom-line standards of quality, capability, and integrity.
General Secretary Xi Jinping has profoundly pointed out: "The military must prepare for war; all work must adhere to the combat effectiveness standard (战斗力标准) and focus on being able to fight and win battles." The fundamental aim and criterion for high-quality advancement of national defense and military modernization is always combat effectiveness. We must keep close watch on changes in technology, changes in warfare, and changes in adversaries; build growth poles for new-quality productive forces (新质生产力) and new-quality combat capabilities (新质战斗力); firmly grasp the "bull's nose" of scientific and technological innovation; strengthen military applications of unmanned and intelligent technologies; deepen the development and application of network information systems; and progressively build an intelligentized military system (智能化军事体系). Integrated systems operations (体系作战) is the primary form of future warfare. We must strengthen the integration of combat capability systems, drive the accelerated improvement of integrated systems operational capabilities with high quality, conduct rigorous combat-realistic evaluation and assessment (实战化检验评估), solidly advance combat training and war preparations, and effectively safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests.
Consolidating and enhancing the integrated national strategic system and capabilities (一体化国家战略体系和能力) is the only path to high-quality advancement of national defense and military modernization. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party called for accelerating the development of advanced combat capabilities, advancing the modernization of military governance, and consolidating and enhancing the integrated national strategic system and capabilities. The "15th Five-Year Plan" outline makes strategic deployments for consolidating and enhancing the integrated national strategic system and capabilities. We must strengthen military governance, optimize institutional mechanisms and improve policy systems in conjunction with implementing cross-military-civilian reform tasks (跨军地改革任务), and form a cross-military-civilian working pattern (跨军地工作格局) in which each party fulfills its own responsibilities, cooperates closely, and operates in an orderly manner. "When the military and the people are united as one, let us see who in the world can match them." Relevant departments of central and state organs and local Party committees and governments must vigorously support national defense and military construction, and foster throughout society a strong atmosphere of caring about national defense, loving national defense, building national defense, and defending national defense.
The war drums urge the march forward, and the hooves press swiftly on; this is precisely the time to forge ahead with determination. On the new journey, let us unite more closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, adhere to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as our guide, thoroughly implement Xi Jinping's Thought on Strengthening the Military (习近平强军思想), keep firmly in mind our duties and mission, invigorate the revolutionary spirit, consolidate the strength to forge ahead, go all out to fight and win the decisive battle for achieving the centenary goal of army-building, accelerate the building of the people's military into a world-class military, and provide strong strategic support for comprehensively advancing the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization.
(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 31)