Chapter 8 Cyber Warfare Capabilities of the PLA Strategic Support Force (SSF)
2022.06.07
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Introduction
The PLA Strategic Support Force (SSF) is responsible for military informationization construction and the defense in cyberspace. According to Xi Jinping’s New Three-step Development strategy on the national defense and military development for the era on the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, October 18, 2017, it is necessary for the PLA to ensure the realization of basic mechanization and high-degree informationization by 2020, basic modernization of China’s national defense and military services by 2035, and the transformation of China’s military into a world-class military by the mid-21st century.[1] Regarding cyberspace, on the first Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission meeting in 2014, Xi Jinping has said, “Without cybersecurity, there is no national security. Without informationization, there is no modernization.”[2] In July 2019, a white paper entitled “China’s National Defense in the New Era” says cyberspace is part of China’s sovereignty and major interest in national security; it also listed nuclear power and space as high points of China’s military strategy. The white paper also indicates that the SSF is importantly responsible for new types of war capabilities. Based on the strategic requirements for system integration and Military-Civil Fusion (MCF), the development of a new type of war capability should be sped up and integrated.[3] All these statements speak of the importance of the SSF.
For a long time and due to data sensitivities, not much was known about the true face of the SSF. While many researchers have put piecemeal information together, knowledge was still fragmented, let alone the whole landscape. Occasional reports or articles published in academic journals focused on the organization, yet many of them were with few details on technologies or techniques.[4] This paper seeks to add to this gap. It examines the SSF by focusing on cyber warfare and cyber operation capabilities. Recent examples of possible operations are provided, and the most updated research literature is summarized.
[1]“How to Accelerate National Defense and Military Development? Xi Jinping Emphasizes New Threesteps Strategy,” cpcnews.cn, March 11, 2021, http://cpc.people.com.cn/xuexi/BIG5/n1/2021/0311/c385474 -32049007. html.
[2]“Xi Jinping in Charge of China’s Cybersecurity,” BBC Chinese, February 27, 2014, https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/china/2014/02/140227_china_xi_web_security.
[3]“China’s National Defense in the New Era (full text),” The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China, July 24, 2019, http://www.scio.gov.cn/ztk/dtzt/39912/41132/41134/Docu ment/1660318/1660318.htm.
[4] John Costello and Joe McReynolds, China’s Strategic Support Force: A Force for a New Era (2018, Washington: National Defense University Press); Rachael Burton and Mark Stokes, The People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force Leadership and Structure (2018, Project 2049 Institute); Elsa Kania and John Costello, “The Strategic Support Force and the Future of Chinese Information Operations,” The Cyber Defense Review (2018), pp. 105-121; Adam Ni and Bates Gill, “The People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force: Up- date 2019,” China Brief, Vol. 19. No. 10, May 2019, https://jamestown.org/program/the-peoples-liberation-ar my-strategic-support-force-update-2019/.