May 11, 2024: The Chinese military recently underwent another round of reforms, including the arrest and prosecution of several senior officers for corruption. The new reorganization created an Information War operation force that will seek to incorporate AI (Artificial Intelligence) and other new technologies to enable the military to react quickly and effectively in a crisis or wartime situation.

The Chinese military has four branches, army, navy, air force and strategic missile forces. The missile forces include some missile carrying submarines operated by the navy.

Then there is the SSF, or Strategic Support Force, which was originally created in 2015 and composed of Chinese spaces-based surveillance, cyber war, electronic warfare, and psychological warfare efforts. The new SSF handles Information support for the military and controls the Aerospace Force and its space satellite operations, plus the Cyberspace Force that takes care of electronic warfare and defense against electronic warfare operations directed at China. The SSF now reports directly to the leader Xi Jinping and the Central Committee that Xi controls to help him run the country.

In addition, there is a Logistic Support Force to keep military units supplied with equipment, fuel, munitions, and spare parts required to keep the armed forces operational and ready to fight. The new organization is also supposed to make it possible, or at least easier, for supreme leader Xi Jinping to monitor the state of his military forces and make needed adjustments quickly. In the past Xi was unable to do this and systems fell into disrepair and uselessness, not to mention corrupt practices. The new organization is supposed to avoid all that. Time will tell if it works.  China rarely implements military reforms that work and, if they do work, they usually don’t last long.