China Reform Monitor: No. 913

August 1:

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has acknowledged the development of airborne cyberwarfare units known as “blue units” coordinated by the Information Security Base under the PLA's General Staff Department. Liu Chaoying, a researcher at the PLA Air Force's Radar Institute, said that the air force’s blue units were infiltrating communications networks and preparing attacks from aboard long-distance bombers. The units could fly to regions where enemy radio activity is detected and either launch a cyber attack or relay the information they collect to supercomputers at the Information Security Base for analysis and decoding. The units aim to “consume the enemy and grind it down at enormous cost” by avoiding defense strongholds such as military command centers and instead targeting civilian sectors such as the power grid, financial system, international trade, transport and hospitals to cause the greatest damage, the South China Morning Post reports. Wan Dongsheng, a cyberwar specialist with the PLA’s Electronic Engineering Institute says a prolonged guerilla war in cyberspace would require the mobilization of the people. He said the military should plan for a total cyberwar, giving the country’s hundreds of millions of internet users professional guidance, training and organization.

[Editor’s Note: Chinese military leaders are very cautious about cyber technology. Their secret military orders are still hand-written and delivered by messenger.]

For the first time the municipal government of Kashgar, Xinjiang has reported that Uighur separatists are responsible for a string of violent attacks on civilians were trained in camps in Pakistan. In addition to the attack on a police station in Hotan on July 18, which left 18 dead, nine people were killed in another attack on July 30, and a third the following day left 11 dead, including five suspected militants. Xinhua and India’s The Statesman report that an initial government probe revealed that the leaders had been trained to use explosives and firearms in camps in Pakistan before entering Xinjiang to organize violent separatist activities. Hours after the announcement Islamabad said it would extend full cooperation to Beijing in countering the rebels and crackdown on the East Turkmenistan Islamic Movement’s activities in Pakistan.

August 2:

Ming Pao reports that hundreds of Han Chinese have gathered at the People’s Square in Kashgar, Xinjiang on August 1 to protest against violent attacks by Uighurs and to blame the local government for not taking tough measures to suppress them. Hundreds of armed police stood guard and prevented protesters from marching to other places.

August 4:

PLA soldiers stationed in remote outposts like Shannan, Tibet are being encouraged to play violent first-person shooter video game games like Counter-Strike to maintain their mental health and combat readiness. In 2009, the Shannon outpost, which is at an altitude of 2800 meters, installed 20 computers for gaming purposes. Su Shengli, director of the outpost’s political department explained to the official China Daily: “One-third of new recruits are from coastal cities. They have grown up with Internet cafes and fast food. They have no idea about the hard life in these frontier areas. The biggest obstacle for soldiers serving in Tibet is neither altitude sickness nor a lack of basic necessities. Instead, it is loneliness. It is a challenge - both physically and psychologically. Playing PC games helps release some of the stress and keeps them in good mental health.”

August 5:

As part of a “special campaign against the abducting and selling [of] children,” Chinese authorities have cracked two criminal rings and rescued 103 abducted children and arrested 409 suspects. The joint operation conducted from July 15 to 20 by the Ministry of Public Security and police in 14 provinces was praised by Meng Jianzhu, minister of public security, who announced the crackdown’s accomplishments at a conference on child abduction in Beijing, the official Zhejiang News reports.