Xi Jinping Signs Order No. 1 'To Focus On War Preparedness' And Refers To The U.S. As 'Enemy'

By: Tufail Ahmad

Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping signed Central Military Commission Order No. 1, to "implement Xi Jinping's thinking on strengthening the military," "focus on war preparedness," make better use of advanced technologies in training and weapons systems, and improve joint training and operations among the People's Liberation Army's military branches. One of Xi's greatest concerns is preventing the independence of Taiwan and ensuring that United States support for Taiwan be militarily challenged by constant People's Liberation Army (PLA) readiness.

It is worth noting that in the mobilization order for training issued on January 2, 2020, Xi Jinping stressed that the PLA should "keep a close eye on the powerful enemy (i.e. the U.S.), focus on actual combat training, and maintain a high state of alert to ensure that it is ready to assemble at the first call and is capable of fighting and winning."

Below is the report of Order No. 1 appeared in Lianhe Zaobao, the oldest Chinese-language newspaper in Singapore, on January 5, 2021:[1]

This Year's Directive Requires The PLA To Deepen Actual Combat Training

"Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the Chinese Communist Party, signed the CMC Order No. 1 of 2021 yesterday, issuing a mobilization order for training to the whole military. The order requires the entire armed forces to focus on war preparedness and ensure constant combat readiness and being primed to fight at any second.

"Xi demanded that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) persist in 2021 to be guided by Xi Jinping thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, implement Xi Jinping's thinking on strengthening the military, implement the military strategic guideline for a new era, carry out the spirit of the military training conference of the Central Military Commission, strengthen the Party's leadership over the work of military training, focus on preparing for war, further promote the transformation of military training, build a new military training system, and comprehensively improve the level of actual combat training and the ability to win.

"On January 3, 2018, Xi Jinping delivered an instruction to the People's Liberation Army at a training mobilization meeting of the Central Military Commission, calling on the PLA to comprehensively strengthen military training in real combat conditions and improve its ability to win. Since then, on the first working day after the New Year's Day holiday of each year, Xi Jinping issued a mobilization order for training to the entire military.

"A person close to the military in Beijing pointed out that strengthening the awareness of war preparedness and enhancing actual combat capability are the basic requirements of the annual training order, but the terms and requirements of the training order will also be adjusted according to different situations each year. For example, this year's directive requires the PLA to deepen actual combat training, guide training with actual combat requirements, promote actual combat through training, strengthen confrontational training based on operational plans, focus on emergency-response capabilities, and intensify front line training for military struggles, so as to realize the integration of combat and training. To put it simply, this requires the PLA to be able to move from training to actual combat at any time, so as to achieve a state of readiness for combat all the time and being prepared to fight at any second.

Xi Jinping Stressed That The PLA Should 'Keep A Close Eye On The Powerful Enemy'

"Analysis: The move is to contain the possibility of a major 'Taiwan independence" incident

cont…

[1] Zaobao.com.sg (Lianhe Zaobao), January 5, 2021. https://www.zaobao.com.sg/znews/greater-china/story20210105-1113805

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cont…

"According to the analyst, one of the key goals of the top Chinese Communist Party this year, which ordered the People's Liberation Army to wait for war for the whole time, is to contain the possibility of a major "Taiwan independence" incident. For example, if an important leader of the United States makes a surprise visit to Taiwan, it is bound to cause great turbulence in cross-strait relations, and the PLA must be able to cope with such unexpected situations.

"In the mobilization order for training issued on January 2, 2020, Xi Jinping stressed that the PLA should 'keep a close eye on the powerful enemy, focus on actual combat training, and maintain a high state of alert to ensure that it is ready to assemble at the first call and is capable of fighting and winning.' The 'strong enemy' mentioned here clearly refers to the United States military, and Xi's order comes against the backdrop of the overall deterioration of China-U.S. relations following the outbreak of the trade war in 2018, and the significantly increased risk of military frictions in hot spots such as the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

"Xi's mobilization order also calls on the People's Liberation Army to deepen joint warfare and joint training, continue to guide the training of services and arms through joint training, highlight joint command training, and cross-domain and cross-service special joint training, so as to accelerate the upgrading of integrated joint combat capabilities.

"At the same time, Xi called on the PLA to strengthen the concept that science and technology form the core of combat effectiveness, step up the study of modern science and technology, especially military high-tech knowledge, strengthen training in new equipment, new forces and new fields, as well as training in integrating them into combat systems, and strengthen the construction of simulation-based, networked and confrontational means, so as to substantially increase the scientific and technological content of training."

[1] Zaobao.com.sg (Lianhe Zaobao), January 5, 2021. https://www.zaobao.com.sg/znews/greater-china/story20210105-1113805

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Secretary Pompeo @SecPompeo

Jan 17

US government account

This year's inauguralUS-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialoguelaunched a framework to secure supply chains, promote 5G/Clean Path, promote women's empowerment, and enhance investment screening. #NotTiredofWinning

https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1350880572210622465?s=20

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Secretary Pompeo @SecPompeo

Jan 17

US government account

US-Taiwan health cooperation

In August 2020, @SecAzar visited Taiwan to highlight our health cooperation amid the global COVID-19 fight. Taiwan's President @iingwen led a successful battle against COVID-19. @WHO could learn A LOT from Taiwan. #TaiwanCanHelp

https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1350865474288947201?s=20

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Secretary Pompeo @SecPompeo

Jan 17

US government account

Lifting Self-Imposed Restrictions on the U.S.-Taiwan Relationship - United State Department

Press Statement

Lifting Self-Imposed Restrictions on the U.S.-Taiwan Relationship

Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State

January 9, 2021

Taiwan is a vibrant democracy and reliable partner of the United States, and yet for several decades the State Department has created complex internal restrictions to regulate our diplomats, service members, and other officials’ interactions with their Taiwanese counterparts. The United States government took these actions unilaterally, in an attempt to appease the Communist regime in Beijing. No more.

Today I am announcing that I am lifting all of these self-imposed restrictions. Executive branch agencies should consider all “contact guidelines” regarding relations with Taiwan previously issued by the Department of State under authorities delegated to the Secretary of State to be null and void.

Additionally, any and all sections of the Foreign Affairs Manual or Foreign Affairs Handbook that convey authorities or otherwise purport to regulate executive branch engagement with Taiwan via any entity other than the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) are also hereby voided. The executive branch‘s relations with Taiwan are to be handled by the non-profit AIT, as stipulated in the Taiwan Relations Act.

The United States government maintains relationships with unofficial partners around the world, and Taiwan is no exception. Our two democracies share common values of individual freedom, the rule of law, and a respect for human dignity. Today’s statement recognizes that the U.S.-Taiwan relationship need not, and should not, be shackled by self-imposed restrictions of our permanent bureaucracy.

https://www.state.gov/lifting-self-imposed-restrictions-on-the-u-s-taiwan-relationship/