China tests digital militia
China’s People’s Liberation Army plans to hold its first combat drill to test military-use digital technology next month, state media said on Wednesday.
The exercise at the Zhurihe training base in the northern region of Inner Mongolia would include “digitalized units,” special forces units, airborne units and “electronic counter forces,” the government’s Xinhua news agency quoted military officials as saying.
The exercise planned for late June was part of China’s efforts to “adjust to informationalized war,” the agency said.
The 2.3-million-strong PLA has prioritised the introduction of information technology as part of a military modernization drive.
At a five-yearly congress in November, the party said it planned to “make major progress in full military IT applications” by 2020.
China raised its defence budget by 10.7 per cent this year, following previous double-digit rises that prompted international concern over the nation’s growing military power.
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