President Xi Jinping initiates sweeping reorganisation of China's military
Xi Jinping has ordered what amounts to the biggest reorganisation of the nation's military since 2015 in a move that affects the force in charge of capabilities including cyber warfare.
China will terminate the Strategic Support Force, which was created more than eight years ago to enhance capabilities in space, cyber, political and electronic warfare, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday.
Xi is in turn creating a new branch called the Information Support Force. The aerospace and cyber units previously under the Strategic Support Force will now be organisationally parallel to the newly created Information Support Force, the defence ministry said in a statement. The aerospace unit will improve China's capability to use space and step up the management of space crises, the ministry said.
The restructuring comes as the world's second-largest economy faces off with the US in a fight for global influence, with cyber warfare emerging as a key battleground. The US, UK and New Zealand accused China last month of sponsoring malicious cyber activity in targeting democratic institutions.
Reiterating the Communist Party's leadership over the army, Xi said that the new force will provide «key support in coordinating the construction and utilisation of the cyber information system.» Li Wei, the political commissar from the now-defunct Strategic Support Force, will take that same role with the Information Support Force.
He pledged to «resolutely» listen to Xi's instructions. The new commander of the Information
