China introduces strategy to make military smarter in backdrop of Ukraine conflict

China is reshaping its postgraduate military studies system to make its armed forces “smarter,” including cultivating more technological talent in the backdrop of changes in the international environment brought by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and also as part of its efforts to modernise the PLA.

A recently released document by the Central Military Commission, titled “Opinions on accelerating the reform and development of military postgraduate education” focuses on fostering military personnel with advanced technology backgrounds and combat skills, ET has reliably learnt.

At the same time, while the world’s attention is focused towards Russia-Ukraine conflict, Beijing has quietly increased its military presence in the Western Pacific region. According to a report in South China Morning Post, China sent its Liaoning Aircraft Carrier and seven escort ships for training through the MiyakoStrait since May 2, where the PLA Navy carried out battle exercises and staged more than 100 fighter take-off and landing operations near the Okinawa Islands.

An article published on May 30 in South China Morning Post, quoting several military experts, assessed the growing self-sufficiency of China’s military-industrial complex minimized any impact of the Ukraine conflict and sanctions on Russia on its arms production. The article claimed that China had been working for more than two decades to reduce its dependence on Russian arms by indigenously developing their own versions.

However, an article in the ‘Eurasian Times’ that quoted a conference on May 17 at the China Aerospace Studies Institute reported that the Russia-Ukraine conflict would impact the fleet of the PLA’s Air Force as Russia would not be able to service or provide engines and components of Chinese fighters due to its involvement in the war. China lags in jet engine production. In terms of performance, its indigenous engines are still falling short in comparison to Russian ones, sources said.

The ongoing conflict has left both Russia and Ukraine vulnerable to cyber-attacks aimed at obtaining sensitive military data. It is learnt that Chinese hackers were exploiting these vulnerabilities and reportedly unleashed cyber-attacks on Russian defence systems to obtain military data. An Israeli-American cyber-security firm “Check Point” revealed that Chinese hackers tried to steal Russian defence data, which continued after Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine.

The report provided new evidence of Chinese efforts to spy on Russia, pointing to the complexity of the relations between them. ET has learnt that Beijing continues to view Russia as a target for acquiring sensitive military technological information.

Chinese hackers apparently also targeted Ukrainian organizations but the attacks appear to be focused more on gathering information and intellectual property rather than causing chaos or disruption that could sway the conflict in favour of Ukraine or Russia, ET has learnt.

Underlining growing military threat from China, Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently warned that the world faces looming global war with ‘robot tanks & AI weapons’ as threats grew from China. While speaking to the cadets graduating from the US Military Academy, West Point, he noted that there was potential for an international conflict as China intended to change the current rules based international order.