An article in the PLA Daily's April 15th edition calls on the army to win the future information warfare on the basis of the people's war.

The article said that information technology and information system can be commonly used and that there does not exist a clear line between civilian-used and military-used fields. The information system used by US troops largely depends on the civilian information infrastructure. As a result, some senior US military officers refer to their military informational changes as "bought from the market," indicating that the civilian and military information technologies are increasingly mixing together, the article noted.

Meanwhile, it was also stressed that the war pattern in the information age is expected to undergo fundamental changes, surpassing the traditional linear　combat and contact-combat and evolving into various forms. For example, with the rapid development of the Internet, every information system is a possible target in an attack, and everyone being skilled in computer is a potential "online warrior" capable of launching attacks on enemies from different locations and fields through the network. According to the article, the information society does not only bring about a broad prospect but also the best opportunities to the people's war.

Furthermore, information warfare demands the support of a comprehensive information infrastructure and many high-tech talents. The establishment of sound civilian information system is of vital importance in remedying the weakness of military information systems and in offering strong support for possible information warfare. The article specified that the US and Japan have begun to establish the system that uses civilian resources to fight information warfare.

With respect to information hardware construction, a lot of key interfaces, network stations and control centers are intended for both civilian　and military use, the article pointed out. A full use of these information infrastructures and current information technology talents is sufficient to establish civilian information combat power to shore up the military's capability in information warfare.

The article also emphasized that defending China's information system is a pressing task that lies ahead since major hubs and joints of civilian information systems have become main targets in the enemy's military attacks.

The article concluded that only by implementing the thought of the people's war, creating flexible and elastic offence and defense strategies and utilizing the overall military and civilian recourses of information warfare, can the army accomplish the various information combat tasks which include information defense, battle deception, information offence and so on, so as to ensure dominance in information warfare.

Close