As the US-China rivalry heats up, President Xi Jinping is putting information front and center of his biggest military shakeup in nearly a decade.
The reorganization comes ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s three-day visit to China as leaders of the world’s two largest economies try to keep talking despite intensifying rhetoric. Today’s condemnation of American complaints about China’s industrial overcapacity suggests some difficult conversations ahead.
That followed US President Joe Biden blasting Beijing as “xenophobic” and vowing to triple tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum exports while on the campaign trail, and moves by Congress to ban TikTok. Blinken is expected to criticize Chinese companies’ support for Russia’s war machine.
Beijing’s military is an opaque institution, and little is known about the new Information Support Force beyond that it will deal with issues including cyber, political and electronic warfare.
But the change has raised questions over the efficacy of Xi’s push to modernize the military and his country’s readiness for a conflict. An anti-corruption purge last year swept the armed forces, adding to the turmoil.
Whatever the thinking, China appears to be intensifying its efforts to improve the military’s handling of information at a time of heightened competition with the West.
Both sides of late have traded spy-versus-spy accusations: Beijing has publicized its capture of various agents allegedly working for American and British intelligence, while the UK and Germany announced arrests of suspects believed to be in the employ of Chinese state security.
Until now, the response to US bashing has been muted, highlighting concerns over China’s delicate economy and its recognition that tough talk during a US election campaign is normal. Visits by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and now Blinken suggest Washington, too, wants to keep guardrails on things.
Yet, coupled with Xi’s sweeping military reorganization, signs are that the fight for global influence may well be stepping up a gear.— Rebecca Choong Wilkins