Is China Preparing For War?

China Prepares for Conflict: Politicians Hand Power to Military

H Turner

The People's Republic of China is preparing to go to war and is not hiding its efforts.

Amendments to the National Defense Act brought into force transfer powers from politicians to military officials.

In general, the amendments reduce the role of the central government's State Council by shifting power to the CMC, the Communist Party's Central Military Committee.

Specifically, the State Council will no longer supervise the mobilization of the People's Liberation Army.

As Zeng Zhiping of Soochow University told Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, "the CMC is now formally responsible for formulating national defense policy and principles, while the State Council becomes a mere implementer providing support to the military."

In a sense, these amendments were a window into war preparation.

"The recent changes to China's National Defense Law that reduce the State Council's power are largely political posturing ," Richard Fisher of the Virginia-based Center for International Assessment and Strategy said after the amendments went into effect.

Military mobilization

"The Chinese Communist Party and especially the existing CMC have always had the highest authority in decisions about war and peace."

Why then are we interested in the amendments to the National Defense Law?

The amendments, Fisher tells us, "demonstrate China's ambition to achieve 'nation-wide' levels of military mobilization to wage wars and give the CMC formal authority to control future Chinese capabilities for global military intervention."

"The revised National Defense Law also incorporates the idea that everyone should participate in national defense," the Communist Party's Global Times reported, quoting an unnamed CMC official as saying.

"All national organizations, armed forces, political parties, civic groups, enterprises, social organizations and other organizations should support and participate in the development of national defense, fulfill national defense tasks and carry out national defense missions in accordance with the law .

As Fisher said "for the past 40 years, the Chinese Communist Party has been preparing for war and is now accelerating its plans." The Party, being ready for battle, leaves nothing to chance.

Also preparing for sanctions – Invasion of Taiwan

On April 22, finance ministry and central bank officials met with representatives of dozens of banks, including HSBC, to discuss what Beijing might do if punitive measures are imposed on China. The holding of the "emergency meeting", as reported by the Financial Times, is ominous.

"Officials and attendees did not mention specific scenarios, but one possible trigger for such sanctions is believed to be a Chinese invasion of Taiwan," the FT noted.

The fact that Chinese officials held the meeting is a clear indication that Beijing is planning military action.

"Be ready for battle." This is how Hong Kong's South China Morning Post summed up Chinese ruler Xi Jinping's first order to the military of 2019.

In January of that year, he gave a major speech at the CMC on preparations for war, and the speech was then broadcast nationally.

Foreign analysts debate whether China will go to war soon. The Chinese political system has become less transparent over time, so it's unclear what senior leaders are thinking.