Be Combat Ready Under the New Conditions* 

January 4, 2019 

The military must follow the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and implement the guiding principles of the 19th CPC National Congress in 2017 and the second and third plenary sessions of the 19th CPC Central Committee in 2018. The military must act on the Party's philosophy on strengthening the military for the new era, implement a strategy for new conditions, and get ready to meet any new challenge at this new starting point.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, in the face of a challenging domestic and international environment and shouldering arduous military tasks, the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission have sized up new developments, made overall plans, and led the military in tackling tough issues with resolve. Thanks to these efforts, the performance of our military has been enhanced; new ground has been made; and landmark, pioneering and historic advances have been achieved. With determination, adaptive strategies and forceful actions, the military has safeguarded our sovereignty, security and development interests, and withstood severe and multiple tests.

A scale of change unseen in a century is unfolding in the world today. China is still in an important period of strategic opportunity for development, but it also faces increasing risks and challenges, both foreseeable and unexpected. In view of this, all our military personnel must gain a full understanding of China's underlying security and development trends, be ever ready to guard against potential dangers, and take solid steps to ensure that we are ready to meet any challenge and fulfill our missions entrusted by the Party and the people.

We should implement the military strategy and principles for the new era, and fulfill the command responsibilities to meet new challenges. We must be fully aware that the military is a fighting force and that its combat capability is what matters. We must devote all our efforts, strengths, and resources to this endeavor.

We should enhance war and combat capabilities to ensure rapid and effective response in case of war. We should build a joint operations command system to improve our capacity in this regard. We should develop new combat forces and create new combat capabilities. We should enhance military training under combat conditions to enhance war preparedness. We should do more to resolve problems progressively and deliver real outcomes. 

All central Party and government departments and local Party committees and governments must support the development of national defense and the military, and work together to build our heroic people's armed forces into a more powerful military with stronger combat capability.

* Main points of the speech at a meeting of the Central Military Commission on military work.

(Not to be republished for any commercial or other purposes.)