Joint Force Quarterly
Abstract
In April 2024, Xi Jinping announced a new military restructuring focused on improving the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)’s ability to achieve information dominance and conduct integrated joint operations in wartime. Continuing a process of reform that Xi initiated nearly a decade ago, the latest reform included three parts: eliminating the Strategic Support Force (SSF), establishing a new Information Support Force (ISF) responsible for network defense and communications support, and placing the ISF and three other support forces under Xi’s direct control. This reform constituted the most significant structural overhaul of the PLA in the last five years, and the first since Russia’s failed attempt to topple the government in Ukraine signaled to Xi and other Chinese leaders the difficulties of offensive warfare, especially as Russian troops struggled to dominate the information environment and fight effectively as a joint force.
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