The Chinese government said the military will enhance its cyber force and capability, according to a white paper on military strategy released on May 26.
Released to and translated by state news agency Xinhua, the strategy focuses on six main areas: the national security situation, missions and strategic tasks of China’s armed forces, strategic guidelines of active defense, building and development of China’s armed forces, preparation for military struggle, and military and security cooperation.
Section four, building and development of China’s armed forces, explains China’s cyber intentions. “China will expedite the development of a cyber force, and enhance its capabilities of cyberspace situation[al] awareness, cyberdefense, [and] support for the country’s endeavors in cyberspace.” the strategy said.
The document also noted China will participate in international cyber cooperation “so as to stem major cyber crises, ensure national network and information security, and maintain national security and social stability.”
The note of international cooperation may be a note of conciliation to the United States or an allusion to its diplomatic push with Russia to reform internet governance to use an international regulator to replace the current multi-stakeholder system with internet sovereignty (Defense Daily, May 13).
These Chinese strategic changes are seen as necessary because “being one of the major victims of hacker attacks, China is confronted with grave security threats to its cyber infrastructure.”
The strategy also said this is a response to how “international strategic competition in cyberspace has become increasingly fiercer” and how “quite a few countries are developing their cyber military forces.”
The Chinese strategy follows the release of the U.S. Department of Defense Cyber Strategy in April, which specifically mentioned China as a potential cyber adversary, developing advanced cyber capabilities and strategies. The White House also released its 2015 National Security Strategy in February that noted the United States will grow its investment in cyber capabilities (Defense Daily, Feb. 6).