Deng Xiaoping’s Thinking on Military Building for a New Era is Deng Xiaoping’s scientific theoretical system on national defense and military building and related military issues during China’s reform and opening up and socialist modernization. As an important part of Deng Xiaoping Theory, it is the inheritance and development of Mao Zedong’s military thinking and the guiding ideology of China’s national defense and military modernization.

I. Basic Content

Deng Xiaoping’s Thinking on Military Building for a New Era includes the following aspects.

Making new judgments on war and peace in contemporary era, and promoting strategic changes in the guiding ideology of military and national defense development

After a long-term calm observation, Deng Xiaoping made scientific analysis of the international environment, and made a new judgment on war and peace which contains two basic meanings. On the one hand, with the continuous development of peace-keeping forces, a major battle can be averted for a while, which means a long-term peaceful environment. On the other hand, hegemonism is the root of contemporary war; the danger of war remains, and small wars are inevitable. The real major issues in today’s world are peace and development. For a long time, China has held that war is inevitable and imminent. But after long-term observation, China concluded that the danger of war still exists, but the growth of force for peace exceeds that of war. War should be avoided or can be avoided, and it is possible to secure peace for a longer time to come. The world is very big and complicated, but there are few people who really support war. Most people call for peace and oppose war.In addition, the world’s new scientific and technological revolution is gaining momentum, and economy and science and technology are playing an increasingly prominent role in world competition, which both developed and developing countries have to take seriously. Thus, it can be concluded that it is possible to avoid large-scale wars for a long period of time, and there is hope for maintaining world peace. The problem is that the forces of world peace are to be developed and united. Development requires peace, and peace cannot be separated from development. Self-development and maintaining peace are the same thing. If the force for world peace keep growing, and third world countries keep developing, then world wars can be delayed. In today’s world, neither of the two major issues of peace and development has been resolved; hegemonism and power politics have always been the main obstacle in this regard.To this end, the relationship between countries should be handled in accordance with the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. Whoever engages in the pursuit of hegemony or war should be opposed. China’s socialism continuously develops social productive forces and advocates peace. Socialist China should demonstrate to the world through practice that China opposes hegemonism, opposes power politics, never seeks hegemony, and is an anchor for world peace. China’s development is the development of force for peace and against war; the stronger China becomes, the more peaceful the world will be.

It is important to make correct judgments about war and peace. Many of China’s past decisions, including the layout of the first, second, and third lines and the policy of “relying on mountains, scattered distribution and hiding in caves”, were all based on the view that war is imminent. The Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee made the judgment that war is no longer impending, and adjusted foreign policies accordingly. These are two extremely important correct changes we should stick to. In line with this thinking of Deng Xiaoping, the guiding ideology of the military and national defense development underwent a strategic change, that is, from the pre-war state of preparing for “early, large-scale, and nuclear war” to the track of development in peacetime.The fundamental sign of this transformation is the decision made by the Central Military Commission (CMC) in 1985 to reduce the number of PLA by one million which is also a practical action by the CPC, the Chinese government and the Chinese people to resolutely safeguard world peace. Since the implementation of this strategic change in the guiding ideology of military and national defense development, Deng Xiaoping always emphasized the need to remain vigilant against the danger of war. He pointed out that the development of international affairs is independent of human will, and we must not slacken off in peace. Now, generally speaking, the force restraining war is growing, and the era of superpowers arbitrarily ruling the world has passed, but we must not let our guard down on the danger of war. There are many people in the world who want China to get better, and there are also people who don’t. China cannot relax its vigilance, and the military must always be ready to fight.

China must build a solid national defense, and the military must shoulder the historical responsibility of safeguarding national sovereignty and security

China’s national interests are: one is to eradicate poverty and consolidate and develop socialism; the other is to maintain peace and safeguard national independence, unity and security. National rights are much more important than human rights, and a country, like a person, also has dignity. In history, China was humiliated, and its sovereignty was infringed upon. As a Chinese, we must cherish the independence and self-determination rights that we have gained through long-term struggle. It is China’s unshakable basic principle to ensure that our sovereignty and security are not violated. China’s current national strength is weak and vulnerable to threats. Once it loses its sovereignty and security, it would become a vassal of a major country, which means that it would regress to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. China’s must always put sovereignty and security first, and the issue of China’s sovereignty is not negotiable.Now, perhaps the cold war is over, and two more cold wars against the whole third world and against socialism have begun. Hostile forces at home and abroad always collude with each other, and when the environment is right, they would join hands to stir up trouble and create turmoil. In this regard, China’s overriding need is stability. Without a stable environment, nothing can be accomplished, and the results that have been achieved will be lost. China cannot be chaotic, and this principle must be repeatedly and openly emphasized. Stability is inseparable from the people’s democratic dictatorship. Dictatorship is needed to oppose all kinds of separatist and subversive activities by hostile forces at home and abroad and to stop the turmoil. China used to be a semi-colonial country that was invaded and carved up by foreign powers, and some historical issues related to this, such as the reunification of the motherland, have not yet been resolved.China hopes to use the peaceful means of “one country, two systems” to resolve the Taiwan question and realize the reunification of the motherland, but the use of force cannot be ruled out, which is out of strategic consideration. We have to bear this in mind, so does our next generation. To safeguard world peace and China’s territorial security and make new contributions to the early return of Taiwan to the motherland and the great cause of national reunification, the PLA must shoulder the historical responsibility of safeguarding national sovereignty and security, maintain a high degree of vigilance at all times, and make solid preparations for the war against aggression.

The reason why China’s four modernization drives includes defense modernization is to ensure that China’s sovereignty and security are not violated. The international situation is not very peaceful now, and a solid national defense must be built. Under the new historical conditions, national defense development must still proceed along the path pioneered by Mao Zedong, and we must still adhere to the guiding idea that China’s national defense is the responsibility of all Chinese people. China features a large territory and a huge population and weak economic strength, so the principle that China’s national defense is the responsibility of all Chinese people is our asset that must be passed down to future generations. The principle of equal treatment between the military and the people cannot be changed, and we should carry forward the fine tradition of unity between the military and the government, and between the military and the people, carry out activities of supporting the military and their families and strengthening the military’s support to the government and the people, and correctly address military-civilian relations from all aspects and in new forms. When it comes to military development, it is necessary to combine a capable standing army with a strong reserve force. A reserve force can integrate troops into the people, maintain less troops in peacetime, and deploy more troops in wartime. We should adhere to the people’s war under modern conditions, and the militia is still an important strategic force and must be elevated to a strategic position. To establish an effective national defense mobilization system, the key is to adhere to the principles of combining routine exercises and actual emergency response, and integrating civilian and military resources.

The key to the four modernization is the modernization of science and technology without which it is impossible to build a modern national defense. Science and technology are the primary productive forces and the most important combat power. In modern warfare, if we do not develop modern weapons and equipment, we will be at a disadvantage. To solve the problem of weapons and equipment, we must focus on strategy and correctly plan the goals and tasks of scientific research and production. Scientific research, production and equipment should be coordinated according to the actual needs of the future war against aggression and the cycle of design, production and formation of combat effectiveness for weapon and equipment. We should stand at the forefront of the world’s military and technological revolution and take a long-term perspective rather than follow others’ footsteps, and prioritize the development of the key aspects according to our economic and technical conditions. To develop advanced weapons and equipment, we should do no more than we can, and follow the principle of “less is more”. In putting forward the strategic goal for equipment, we should take into account China’s economic situation and put quality rather than quantity first, especially for cutting-edge products. Otherwise, a small spare part may have devastating effect on our overall development. Quality is about supporting facilities and the overall quality level. To solve the equipment problem, we should combine learning and introducing advanced technology with our own creation. We must be independent and self-reliant so that we can make better Chinese-style products. However, independence is not self-isolation, and foreign new technologies must also be properly introduced. Learning and introduction are only a starting point, and the ultimate purpose is to improve China’s own scientific research and manufacturing level. We should have our own knowledge and learn from other countries, but also have ambition and creativity. It is necessary to focus not only on the development of advanced technology and equipment, but also on the improvement and renewal of conventional weapons. On the issue of strategic weapons, China’s policy is to possess the weapons that our rivals also have to have a deterrent.

The military must be subordinate to and serve the overall national development and accelerate the modernization of national defense on the basis of enhancing national strength

To solve all the problems China is facing now in the primary stage of socialism, including the modernization of the military and national defense, the key is to develop our economy. The state of economic development is the overriding issue that determines the fate of contemporary China. If we ignore it, the survival of the Chinese nation would be perilous, and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups may become refugees. In the game of national development, although the military and national defense development should not be ignored, the development of the “four modernization” must be prioritized based on their importance, and economic development must come first in the socialist modernization drive.Right now, we must be firmly committed to this central task and boost our economy no matter how many difficulties we may encounter. When a worldwide or major war may be delayed or even avoided, it is undoubtedly of far-reaching significance for the entire country and nation to reduce military expenditures as much as possible to strengthen national building and ensure that economic development is prioritized. On this issue, the military has its own due role to play. It must align itself with the overall situation, and must act by taking into account it. Besides, national defense development must be underpinned by a certain economic foundation, and if the economy is underdeveloped and the national strength is too weak, national defense modernization would be impossible. It would be much easier when the overall situation improves, the national strength is greatly enhanced, atomic bombs and missiles, developed, and equipment in the air, at sea, or on land, updated. Therefore, when the country is unable to spend more money for national defense development, the military has to endure for several years or more than ten years, make way for the overall situation, and ensure that the country can still concentrate on economic development. At the same time, it must serve the overall national building, and do everything possible to tap and contribute to the potential productive forces.The military whose all aspects are related to national building must consider how to support and actively participate in national building. The Air Force, the Navy, or the National Defense Science, Technology and Industry Committee must all consider freeing up resources to support the national economic development. For example, the Air Force can free up some airports for military and civilian use or purely for civilian use to support the country’s development of civil aviation. Some naval ports can be of dual use, while others can be for civilian use, so as to increase their throughput capacity. As the national defense industry features strong technical strength, it is necessary and advisable to make full use of this strength, integrate it into the construction of the whole country, and vigorously develop civilian production.

As an important aspect of socialist modernization, the modernization of the military and national defense also bears on China’s overall development. The world is not very peaceful now, and hegemonism is causing trouble everywhere. If China does not modernize its national defense and does not even have self-defense forces, China will face a tough situation and be bullied by others. For a socialist country like China, without the modernization of its military and national defense, it will not become one of the major powers exerting a significant impact on international affairs, show the superiority of the socialist system, boost national self-esteem and self-confidence and the spirit of patriotism. To promote economic and national defense development, we must make the overall plan, albeit prioritization in practical steps. On the basis of the continuous economic development, the proportion of national defense investment must be reasonable, weapons and equipment, improved accordingly, and national defense modernization, accelerated.

Implementing the military strategic policy of active defense and adhering to the strategic thinking of the people’s war

China’s military strategy under the new historical conditions is still active defense. China’s socialism advocates peace. The real socialists firmly oppose hegemonism and maintain world peace. As a socialist country, China follows a self-defense strategy and will never seek hegemony and invade other countries. China’s main goal is to accelerate its development; China is still very poor and backward, and need a peaceful environment to concentrate on its own development. Therefore, it is impossible for China to pose a threat to or invade other countries. China’s strategy is always defensive, and even if it modernizes in the future, it will still be defensive. China needs peace and sincerely hopes to avoid war, but also cherishes its hard-won rights to independence and autonomy. It will never allow others to harm its interests, and other countries should not expect China to swallow bitter fruit that undermines China’s sovereignty, security or development interests.On the issue of war, China has always upheld the principle that “we will not attack others unless we are attacked, and we will surely counterattack if we are attacked”. Therefore, China’s strategy is active defense. China has its own strengths and advantages, and it must build an image of not believing in fallacy and not afraid of evil forces. Active defense is also in line with China’s national conditions, and China will adopt this strategy against foreign invasion. Active defense also includes offense, as it is a late attack. Active defense itself includes protracted warfare, and once a large-scale enemy invasion occurs, the war will surely be protracted. Although China, which is still relatively poor and backward, has disadvantages in fighting wars, it boasts the advantages of large territory and huge population. It has the characteristics of not believing in fallacy, and has a tradition of fighting protracted wars. Today’s China is different from that of the past. Anyone who dares to invade China must be prepared to fight for at least 20 years. If anyone wants to use force, the Chinese are not afraid and will fight to the end. The Chinese military and civilians have a tradition of defeating the stronger enemy with superior equipment. They once could defeat the enemy with modern equipment, which is where their confidence comes from.“Two feet can’t run faster than motorized equipment”, but modern equipment is not without its shortcomings. Tanks and planes also need “food”, meaning once struck, they cannot operate. Now people say technology is everything. Don’t blindly believe in it. It is true that a country must attack importance to technology, otherwise it would be vulnerable to attack. However, in future wars, China’s weapons and equipment will not improve too much on the current level. In short, despite our weaker strength and inferior equipment, we must defeat the enemy with modern equipment, and exhaust and defeat the enemy with protracted warfare.

Mao Zedong developed China’s military strategy which is about the people’s war. In the future fight against aggression, we must still rely on our own strength and carry on the people’s war. We must inherit and develop Mao Zedong’s Military Thinking, study the people’s war under modern conditions, and develop Chinese military science. As long as we carry on the people’s war, even if the enemy invade us now, the Chinese military and civilians can fight and win with their existing weapons. China’s military system combines the field army, the local army and the militia. The invading enemy will be overwhelmed by the vast “ocean” of the people’s war. Conducting the people’s war does not mean giving up military modernization. Today, the people’s war is different from the past in targets, equipment, means, and conditions, so its forms are also different.The weapons of the Chinese militia now are much better than those of the regular army during the war for national liberation, and it is equipped with missiles for attacking tanks. The upgraded equipment makes the people’s war more powerful. Of course, there are still many unfavorable factors in the Chinese military when it comes to fighting in the future. For example, many officers are not experienced in actual combat command, and their equipment is backward. But the military which is brave as always can learn to fight. It may be at a disadvantage at first, but things will get better soon. Old guerrilla warfare can still be carried out in modern conditions, and we can fight guerrilla warfare with modern weapons. Modern warfare entails modernization of the command chain and air supremacy. The army and the navy need air force to cover and support them, otherwise the enemy’s aircraft will be unobstructed. In future operations, efforts must be made to obtain air superiority. The navy needs to develop a sea force for offshore operations against a hegemonic and powerful navy. Strategic weapons and deterrent force are to let the enemy know that whoever intends to overturn China will receive revenge. Although a nuclear war will not necessarily be fought in the future, a conventional war is possible. To win this kind of war, China must build its forces. Under no circumstances will China be the first to use nuclear weapons.

Building a Strong, Modern and Well-structured Revolutionary Military

As the pillar of the people’s democratic dictatorship, the PLA shoulders the glorious mission of defending the socialist China and its “four modernization”, so it must be built into a strong, modern and well-structured revolutionary military. This has determined the goal and task for the military development in the new era: to make the PLA strong. All aspects of the “three modernization” is related to the overall military development. As an organic whole, they are interconnected and mutually reinforcing, which constitutes a distinctive feature of military development in the new era. In order to achieve this goal and task, Deng Xiaoping put forward a series of fundamental requirements and guidelines for all aspects of military development.

1. Unswervingly upholding the nature of being the people’s forces. The PLA must unswervingly uphold its own nature, that is, it is the Party’s forces, the country’s forces, and the people’s forces. By being the country’s forces, it also means the PLA is the forces of a socialist country. The military must always be loyal to the Party, the country, the people, and socialism. The military is always led by the Party, and the Party runs the military. The military must follow the Party’s command, and at no time shall it fly its own banner or form exclusive blocs. It is necessary to uphold the various systems whereby the Party leads the military, especially the Party’s absolute leadership through the CPC Central Committee. This requires political discipline. Democratic centralism involves Party members deferring to Party organizations, the minority deferring to the majority, lower-level Party organizations deferring to higher-level organizations, and the whole Party deferring to the Central Committee. Under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Jiang Zemin as the core and the CMC with Jiang Zemin as its chairman, the entire military must develop itself to defend the China’s independence and sovereignty, China’s socialist cause, and the Party’s line, principles and policies made since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee, thereby making more and greater contributions to great cause of China’s peaceful reunification.

2. The central task is modernization. Deng Xiaoping emphasized that in the overall planning of military development, the guiding ideology must be clear, that is, to promote modernization. He also said that a high degree of Party consciousness, political awareness, excellent combat capability, and strict discipline have always been the traditional advantages of the PLA. However, compared with the stronger opponents, the overall development level of the PLA is still relatively backward. The main problem is that it still lags far behind in modernization, including the poor scientific and cultural quality of its officers and soldiers, the low level of military weapons and equipment, and the insufficient ability of officers in directing modern warfare. Back in the early days of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Mao Zedong proposed to modernize the military and national defense. Now, we should stay focused on and stick to it. Modernization cannot be achieved by empty talk, but by knowledge and talents. In the past when the army only had was poorly equipped, if you knew how to shoot, kill with bayonet, and throw grenades, you could go into battle. But this is not applicable today. The navy must have relevant professional knowledge, so must the air force. The staffs’ job is also different from that of the past, and their knowledge needs to be much broader now.Therefore, the first important task is to train and cultivate a large number of high-caliber modern military personnel. Under modern conditions, the requirements for professionalism are even higher. To cultivate modern military talents, special attention should be paid to professional knowledge, so as to make the military both socialist-minded and professionally competent. We must foster an atmosphere of respect for knowledge and talents in the whole military, emancipate our minds, break out of stereotypes and bad habits, and blaze a trail in the training and utilization of talents, so that top talents can come to the fore. Attention should also be paid to equipping officers with the knowledge of modern science, culture and warfare, and improving their ability to command modern warfare. Military modernization and future wars against aggression require officers to identify and solve problems. In running the military, we should not only improve its organization and strategy, but also upgrade its equipment. Weapons and equipment are the material basis for high-quality military development. We must improve and make new and useful weapons and equipment on our own.

3. Reforming the military system. On the issue of military modernization, we must pay attention to its organization and the system. To reform the military system and establishment, we must first address overstaffing caused by Lin Biao and the “Gang of Four”. This takes into account both the international and domestic situation. Overstaffing also hinders the modernization of military equipment. China has made the policy to cut the number of troops, and utilize the expenditure saved to upgrade equipment. To address the overstaffing is to both save expenses and improve the military quality, otherwise it would be impossible for the military to cope with war. Now this problem is not manifested in combat troops, but mainly in leading institutions at all levels. The organization is overstretched, and the command organization is overstaffed, especially officers, which is an unhealthy state for the military. The more people there are, the lower the efficiency and combat effectiveness is. The main purpose of streamlining the military organization is to reduce its redundant non-combatants and the personnel in leading and commanding agencies, especially high-level ones. Therefore, the focus of streamlining is cutting organs and improve efficiency. By adhering to this principle, the military can become lean. Streamlining did not weaken, but enhanced the combat effectiveness of the military, and also created a condition for the promotion of new personnel.Reforming the establishment and streamlining are actually two sides of a coin. For the military to be lean, reforming its system is a must. As modern warfare is a joint operation of various services and arms, troop organization in peacetime must taken into consideration wartime expansion and deployment, and its establishment should be made rigorous and precise according to the characteristics of the theater and the tasks of the troops. The method of streamlining and reorganizing should rely on the approach of revolution which is not a revolution of the people, but a revolution of the system. The first step in institutional reform is to reform organs. Organs should be simplified rather than too cumbersome. It is necessary to reform the system and improve work efficiency by addressing overstaffing and bureaucratic red-tap. According to the characteristics of each theater and the continuous improvement of military equipment, we should develop some combined troops and combined divisions. A   combined troop is actually an army corps which facilitates synthesizing training in peacetime, makes commanders familiar with the command of the special forces, and helps combine peacetime training with wartime deployment. The institutions of the navy and air force should be based on principles that are conducive to their development. The conditions of the major military regions and provincial military regions are different, meaning their organization or establishment must also be different. The number of troops does not need to be that big in peacetime. By improving the wartime mobilization system and plan, the number of troops in peacetime can be cut. In addition to combating bureaucracy and overcoming shortcomings such as low work efficiency, the system reform is important to facilitating the training and selection of talents which in turn means early promotion of young and outstanding officers. The military system reform should be done only when the condition is ripe. We must be strict with the military establishment and stick to it, because it is equal to the law. It is necessary to set a quota and determine the number of people that should be employed. Institutionalization will eliminate overstaffing. We must establish and implement an officer service system and a retirement system without which the military would not have enthusiasm. The military reform must have its own characteristics, and should not copy the experience of local reform, let alone the principles of foreign military governance. T    o uphold the characteristics of the military, on the one hand, we should combine reform with maintaining the stability and a high degree of concentration and unity. Instead of each minding its own business, all issues involving the whole military must be decided and deployed by the CMC. On the other hand, whether it is conducive to improving combat effectiveness should be taken as the fundamental criterion, implemented in every link of the reform and every problem to be solved, and coordinated with the military development.

4. Making the military well-structured. The key to making the military well-structured under the new situation is to have a high standard, strict systems, strict discipline, strict training, and strict management, and to impose strict requirements on all aspects of the military’s work and life. Here, two issues should be emphasized: system and discipline. The system is more fundamental, general, stable and long-term. Many problems in military development must be considered and solved from this perspective. Under the new situation, in order to straighten out some major relations, we must pay high attention to system building and run the military according to the law. The rules and regulations must be established and improved in all fields and aspects. The making of rules and regulations should be strict and meticulous with high standards and free from mistakes. Everyone should play a role.All regulations must be implemented honestly, which depends not only on education but also on training. Education on discipline and law must be carried out for all officers and soldiers, and soldiers must learn and obey the discipline from the moment they join the military. Lax discipline is not acceptable. The highest standard of abiding by discipline is to faithfully uphold and resolutely implement the Party’s and the state’s policies. It is not allowed to arbitrarily spread distrust, dissatisfaction and opposition to the line, principles and policies of the CPC Central Committee. Discipline is indispensable for maintaining the overall situation. In strictly enforcing the law and discipline, every member is equal before Party discipline and regulations. Violation of discipline, policies and regulations, no matter who they are, must be resolutely opposed and rectified, so that merits and demerits are clarified, rewards and punishments, defined, justice, upheld, and evil influences, combated. Zero tolerance policy is adopted. When it comes to running the military with strict discipline, we must first be strict with the leading group and the senior officers.Management should also be scientific, and sound management makes a big difference. The so-called sound management mainly means doing a good job related to people. Management should not only be regarded as administrative work, but also as ideological work. In the management system, special attention should be paid to strengthening the accountability system. The most dangerous scenario is when no one takes on responsibility under the pretext of collective leadership. Establishing and strengthening an accountability system is an effective form of eradicating this danger. Clarifying the responsibilities and standardizing them in the form of a system can promote strict and impartial rewards and punishments, and create an environment and atmosphere of a healthy competition for excellence. It can mobilize positive factors in all aspects, and is conducive to motivating the people to manage, educate and discipline themselves. Management is no easy thing. To run the military well, it is necessary to improve its management ability. Learning modern management, including absorbing and learning from all achievements in management science, must be combined with learning modern scientific and technological and warfare knowledge, as well as inheriting and developing our traditional advantages and characteristics. It should learn from practice, books, its own and others’ experience and lessons.

5. It is necessary to raise education and training to a strategic position. In modern warfare, it is necessary to master a variety of knowledge and capabilities, including the sky, the ground, the land, the underwater, and communication. In times of war, the PLA mainly learns how to fight a war from war, which is the most useful; in times of peace, it must start with education and training to improve the quality of officers and soldiers and its combat effectiveness. In peacetime, the education and training of the military should be elevated to a strategic position to become a regular and central task of the military. This principle must be systematically implemented in two ways. On the one hand, the military itself should advocate hard work and diligent study. To be able to fight, soldiers and officers should all strengthen political consciousness and study and train hard.According to the needs of modern warfare, we should learn the knowledge of modern warfare and learn the joint operations of various services and arms. The command and management capabilities of officers at all levels must be improved through study, training, and exercises, and soldiers must learn how to operate weapons like tanks and aircraft. The fine tradition and good style should also be recovered and cultivated through hard training. At the same time, we must also strive to learn other necessary political, cultural and scientific and technological knowledge. On the other hand, the education and training for officers can be achieved by running schools. In order to improve the command and management capability of officers, and increase their knowledge, schools must be run well, including schools at all headquarters, branches and levels of the military. To run a school, the first is to train, select and recommend officers, and play the role of the collective political department and the collective officer department. The second is that both senior, company and platoon officers should all earnestly study the knowledge of modern warfare. The third is to restore the fine traditional conduct of the people’s forces by cultivating it in school and carrying it forward in the military. To run a school well, the first and foremost thing is to select the officers and teachers who excel in this field. These offices are more important than the current active officers, and we should select the best ones. The second is to ensure the quality of teaching materials whose content should be unified and enable students to know more about ourselves and the enemy, attach importance to China’s own war experience, and include knowledge of modern warfare, including tanks, aircraft, air, ground, sea, and joint operations of various services and arms. The third is to select and train excellent students and officers. Officers from the platoon leader upwards must be trained in the military academy, and the promotion of officers at each stage must also be on the premise of school training, which should become a set system.

6. Strengthening and improving the political work of the military and always stressing political awareness. Under the new conditions, ideological and political work must be placed in a very important position. The ideological and political work and teams in this respect must be greatly strengthened. Over the years, some officers have been preoccupied with their own duties without following political developments and paying much attention to ideological education. Political awareness must always be stressed; reform and modernization of science and technology combined with emphasis on political awareness will be more powerful. Researching and solving problems must be within certain historical context. For the PLA, the biggest historical change is the transition from a long-term war environment to a peaceful environment.The fundamental tasks and basic contents of the military’s political work have not changed, and its fine traditions remain the same. But the time, the conditions and the objects are all different now, so the way to solve problems is also different and should be in line with the new context. Otherwise, we cannot improve our combat effectiveness in peacetime, and we would fail to uphold the revolutionary nature of the people’s forces in the context of reform and opening up. To this end, we must adhere to Mao Zedong’s theory on the political work of the military, uphold and carry forward its fine tradition, and develop and improve it under the new conditions, and carry out it in a targeted, meticulous, in-depth and popular manner.With regard to ideological and political work, we must pay attention to overcoming the “leftist” practices of the past, follow the principle of seeking truth from facts, rely on persuasion and education, carry out active ideological struggle, and combine the resolution of ideological problems with that of practical problems. In terms of ideology and politics, it is necessary to oppose both feudalism and capitalism, that is, to emphasize ideals and unite the people with firm political beliefs. Beliefs are everything. For the military, having firm beliefs is still a principle for military building and cannot be discarded, which is unique to China. To this end, more work and education are required. We should base education on reality and guide and motivate officers and soldiers to carry forward the spirit of revolution and hard work, the spirit of strictly observing discipline and making sacrifices, the spirit of being fair and impartial and putting other people before themselves, the spirit of defeating all enemies and conquering all difficulties, and the spirit of having revolutionary optimism and strive for victory by overcoming whatever difficulties coming their way.We should be good at learning and relearning. What should we study? The fundamental thing is to study Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought. Seeking truth from facts is the fundamental point of Mao Zedong Thought and Party conduct. Efforts should be made to combine the universal principles of Marxism with the concrete practice of China’s four modernization (the modernization of agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology). The realization of the ideological line and the political line must be guaranteed by the organizational line, and the building of the officer team shall be comprehensively strengthened in accordance with the principle of making them more revolutionary, younger, better educated and more professionally competent and of being based on both integrity and ability. The training and selection of successors bears on the overall military development and the future wars against aggression. It is a strategic issue that must be resolved. We must select those who earnestly study Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought and stand the test of struggles; those who have strong Party consciousness, can unite with others, and are not misguided; those who work hard, live a plain life, seek truth from facts, tell the truth, are honest, a person with a sense of decency; those who have close ties with the people, show concern for their sufferings, and are bold and decisive, experienced, and dedicated. In short, they must be real communists. When selecting officers, we must uphold fairness and decency, take into account the public opinion, be open and inclusive, and oppose sectarianism and factionalism.There’s no place for sentiment in selecting officers, and we must handle issues in a way that a statesman does. It is necessary to gradually put in place a sound officer system, closely combine the principle of selecting officers by the Party with the mass line, and put in place a system for officer selection, employment, and management. We must institutionalize the strict appraisal of officers. It is necessary to gradually establish and improve the intraparty supervision system, and combine intraparty supervision with the supervision by the people. The military must inherit and carry forward the fine traditions and style of the Red Army. The are fundamentally two fine traditions and conduct advocated by Chairman Mao: seeking truth from facts and the mass line without which it is impossible for seeking truth from facts to be followed through to the end. There are two issues of special significance in the military’s implementation of the mass line: inside the military, it is the relationship between officers and soldiers, and the principle of unity between officers and soldiers must be upheld; outside the military, it is the relationship between the military and the people, and the principle of unity between the military and the people must be upheld. For leading officers at all levels, the most important is to refrain from pursuing personal privileges. Inheriting and carrying forward the fine traditions and fine conduct of the Red Army. In particular, we should emphasize hard work and resolutely guard against the erosive influence of capitalist decadence. The more a country develops, the more it must focus on hard work and entrepreneurship. Without the spirit of hard work, it is impossible to resist corruption and achieve great things. We should keep up our energy, revolutionary enthusiasm, and a dauntless spirit of the revolutionary war period. The PLA must take the lead in building a socialist society with an advanced culture and ideology, and cultivate a new generation with lofty ideals, integrity, knowledge and a strong sense of discipline and not afraid of hardships and making sacrifices.

7. Adapting to the new situation and managing the entire logistics well. There are many ways to fight a war, including logistics. Logistics is also for preparing for war. Modern warfare is, in a certain sense, fighting of equipment and logistics. Logistics is a science, and to do it well requires in-depth study. With the development of modern science and technology and the gradual improvement of military weapons and equipment, many new situations have emerged in the logistics of the military. In the past, it was poorly equipped which was not very dependent on logistics. Now, whether it is military supplies, weapons and ammunition and equipment, we all have to rely on a strong rear supply; the reserves of war materials are also constantly changing. In addition, the military’s wealth has gone from strength to strength. How to manage the entire logistics work well is also a new problem, which necessitates a series of systems and methods to adapt to the new situation.When China pursues economic development as its central task, what the military needs to consider is not to increase the proportion of the military budget in the national financial expenditure, but how to use the budget better and more rationally, and really for strengthening combat effectiveness. This is also a strategic issue to ponder on. It is necessary to attach great importance to the cultivation of logistics management talents, improve management methods and systems. Those in charge of logistics must learn to be “housekeepers” and learn to do more with less. One should be willing to be an unsung hero, perform their duties honestly, be a patriotic “housekeeper”, do down-to-earth work, and serve the people wholeheartedly. There are still difficulties in the country, and some practical problems cannot be solved overnight. We must try our best to do our job well despite difficulties.

8. Making the military lean and improving its combat effectiveness in an all-round way. The military is for fighting, and without combat effectiveness, it cannot perform this role. Under the new historical conditions, to study new situations and solve new problems, the most important thing is to study and solve the problem of comprehensively improving the military’s combat effectiveness in peacetime. Troop building, in the final analysis, is determined by its actual combat capability. The conditions of war are different in styles and opponents, and the standards for measuring actual combat capabilities. In order to adapt to the needs of modern warfare, we must prepare for fighting against stronger opponents, and focus on having the real and reliable combat power which has always been a fundamental issue related to the outcome of future wars against aggression and national security, and cannot be ignored.To have the real combat effectiveness, we must improve the quality of the troops in an all-round way. Military quality affects the outcome of a war. We must give consideration to both quantity and quality. China is still poor and cannot keep too many troops; China is also a big country, and its surrounding environment is more complicated, and maintaining too few troops will also affect national security. Therefore, the number and size of the military should be in line with our national security requirement and national strength. A country like China cannot do without proper power, but this power must be reliable and sophisticated, so it must improve technology and quality. “Excellent troops” mean a lean military, which entails reducing the number of posts, streamlining the organs, and comprehensively improving the quality of officers and soldiers.

II. The Formation Process

Deng Xiaoping is an important member of the Party’s first generation of central collective leadership under Mao Zedong, and the core of the Party’s second generation of central collective leadership of the CPC. He is not only the chief architect of the cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, but also the chief architect of the military and national defense development in the new era of China’s socialist development. His thinking on military building in the new era was gradually developed and formed to meet the needs of military and national defense development by proceeding from the international and domestic situation in the new era. As early as 1975, when he assumed the position of the vice chairman of the CPC Central Committee, the vice chairman of the CMC and the chief of general staff of the PLA, Deng Xiaoping started to deal with the serious damage caused by the two counter-revolutionary cliques of Lin Biao and Jiang Qing during the Cultural Revolution, and started to reform all aspects of the military and reorganize the national defense industry by putting forward important ideological viewpoints and principles.Later, because he was mistakenly dismissed from all positions inside and outside the Party, the reform that had achieved initial results stalled. In 1977, after Deng Xiaoping resumed the leadership of the Party, government and military, military reform was fully implemented. By the end of 1978, before the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee was held, he had successively published The Military Should be Reformed, The Military Should Raise Education and Training to a Strategic Position, Speech at the Plenary Session of the Central Military Commission, Speech at the Military Political Work Conference, Emancipating the Mind, Seeking Truth from Facts, Looking Forward in Unity and other important speeches which clearly stated that we must fully and accurately understand the scientific system of Mao Zedong Thought, oppose the erroneous “two whatevers” policy (resolutely upholding whatever decisions made by Chairman Mao and unswervingly following whatever instructions made by him), restore the fundamental principle of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought of seeking truth from facts, and correcting the Party’s ideological line and organization line; we can delay the outbreak of war and must proceed with the modernization of national defense and the military as the current international situation is favorable to China; we must uphold the strategic thinking of the people’s war whose current form is different from the past; we must rectify overstaffed institutions, weak leadership and lax discipline to solve the “overstaffed, lax, arrogant, extravagant and lazy” in the army since the Cultural Revolution and the “soft-handed, lazy and loose” phenomenon of some leading groups; we must focus on organization, equipment, and strategy; raise education and training to a strategic position; make the military lean and focus on real combat effectiveness; carry forward the fine tradition of political work; gradually modernize the military command system; and pay attention to the militia under modern conditions. These viewpoints and principles have guided the PLA to successfully right the wrongs in all aspects and get back on the right track, thereby paving the way for studying new situations, solving new problems, and comprehensively advancing the modernization of the military and national defense under new historical conditions. The successful convening of the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee at the end of 1978 marked that China’s socialist modernization drive entered a new historical period. At the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee held in June 1981, Deng Xiaoping was elected Chairman of the CMC. The 12th National Congress of the CPC in September 1982 elected Deng Xiaoping as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, director of the Advisory Committee of the CPC Central Committee, and chairman of the CMC. Proceeding from the new historical conditions, he made an overall design on the major policies and principles of military and national defense development. In a series of important speeches such as “Peace and Development Are the Two Main Themes in the Contemporary World”, “Speech at the Enlarged Meeting of the Central Military Commission”, “China Must Lead the High-tech Field in the World”, he pointed out that peace and development are contemporary world’s two major themes; if we do our work well, the world war can be postponed; hegemonism is the root cause of contemporary wars, we must oppose hegemonism and safeguard world peace; military and national defense development must be carried out under the overall national economic development; we must build a solid national defense by taking national interests as the starting point; China must uphold the strategy of active defense in its future wars against aggression, and launch the people’s war under modern conditions; China must lead the world’s high-tech field, vigorously strengthen national defense science and technology research, and modernize our weapons and equipment; the PLA must be built into a strong, modernized and well-structured revolutionary military; its must be lower in quantity and higher in quality; the military system must be reformed, and various rules and regulations must be put in place and improved in accordance with the requirements of modern warfare and the principle of combining elite troops and improving efficiency; officers must be made more revolutionary, younger in average age, better educated and professionally more competent; we must cultivate soldiers with lofty ideals, integrity, knowledge and a sense of discipline, and carry out the activities for the military and civilians to jointly promote socialist cultural and ethical progress; we must inherit Mao Zedong’s Military Thinking and study the people’s war under modern conditions, the development of Chinese military science, etc. The above viewpoints and principles have formed a scientific theoretical system for Deng Xiaoping’s thing on military building in the new period. The 14th National Congress of the CPC held in October, 1992 formally put forward the concept of Deng Xiaoping’s thinking on military building in the new era, and requested to guide the military and national defense development in the new period with this thinking. Deng Xiaoping’s important statements in this respect have been included in Volume II and III of Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping.

 III. Scientific Value

Deng Xiaoping’s thinking on military building in the new period is the development and extension of Deng Xiaoping Theory in the military field, and the implementation and application of the scientific world outlook and methodology upheld by Deng Xiaoping Theory in the military field. By analyzing the current international situation and the trend of world military development and proceeding from China’s modernization drive, Deng Xiaoping  correctly solved the problem of taking the road of fewer but better troops with Chinese characteristics when peace and development have become the themes of the times and China is carrying out reform and opening up. The major task of a strong modernized and well-structured revolutionary military has profoundly revealed the basic laws of national defense and military development in the new era, and has pushed Mao Zedong’s Military Thinking to a new stage. It is a guiding thinking that China’s national defense and military modernization drive must follow for a long time to come.