PLA Daily Published an article discussing the Chinese military’s position regarding cyber security and related struggles. Below is an excerpt from the article:
Sovereignty on cyberspace highlights national sovereignty. Cyberspace is also the space for national security. If we do not occupy cyber territory, others will; if we don’t guard the space, we will lose that sovereignty. It will even become the front gate for the enemy forces to erode and disintegrate us.
The Internet has become the main battlefield for ideological struggles. … Whoever controls cyberspace will seize the commanding heights of the ideological struggle battlefield and will control the lifeblood of national security and development in the information era.
Internet resources are not virtual resources. It is physical resources that are related to national security. In the Internet age, a hostile country can also use advanced cyber technologies to appropriate a nation’s information, data, people, and other key hubs.
Cyber security has become an important part of China’s comprehensive security. We can say that without cyber security, there is no national security.
To cope with cyber security, strengthening "defense from the mind (heart)" should become a priority in addition to improving our technology. The Internet is "the biggest variable" that we face. It can also become a "headache" if not handled properly. Especially, online ideological work is related to the [Communist] banner, path, and national political security and is the core position we must fight and defend. One scholar said, "Having the controlling power over the Internet in the 21st century has the same defining significance as the power of controlling the seas in the 19th century and having air supremacy in the 20th century." Western anti-China forces have been intending to topple China using the Internet. Years ago, some Western politicians claimed that, "With the Internet, there is a way to deal with China." "When socialist countries fall into the arms of the West, it will start with the Internet."
On the Internet battlefield, whether we can keep the enemy outside of the door is directly related to the safety and security of our country’s ideology. This is an online media war without the knife and sword but with heavy murderous and killing intentions.
However, compared to the hostile force’s long dominance in the control of Internet media and their organized, targeted, planned, and systematic implementation of strategic offensive attacks, some of our military leaders have not yet learned "the swimming technique" in the Internet tide. They lack a clear understanding of the on-line media struggle and a consciousness of potential dangers; they lack the sense of responsibility that comes from fighting for the [Communist] Party, army, and nation in the online "territory."
In the face of this struggle, we cannot lose and cannot afford to lose. If we do not pay attention to cyber security and do not put on-line ideological work in the proper place with firm control, the enemy will take away our people; our army will be in danger of changing color. We can say that we face the most danger in this battlefield and that the key also lies in this battlefield.
Source: PLA Daily republished by Xinhua and People’s Daily, May 20, 2015
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2015-05/20/c_127820829.htm
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2015/0520/c172467-27029494.html