Abstract:

In writings on logistics mobilization, mainland Chinese academics use the term “large-scale joint operations” to refer to possible use of force against Taiwan. To cope with the resulting challenges for materiel supply support, medical service support, and transportation and delivery support, communist China lists the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as a “basic mobilization area,” which will launch full mobilization in all areas and spheres. Provinces and cities near the Eastern TC are “auxiliary mobilization areas,” which mobilize personnel and resources to compensate for the basic mobilization area’s resource deficiencies. In addition, “specific mobilization” covering businesses such as information, transportation, materials supply, medical service, construction, and energy will be launched across mainland China. Other theaters where “chain reaction warfare” is possible are categorized as “stand-by areas for mobilization,” with target-specific mobilization in limited areas, such as homeland air defense, border defense, maintenance of social order, production of military items, and evacuation of people. The aim is to ensure that armed conflicts and disruptive activities incited by domestic and hostile elements overseas will be effectively neutralized.

Judging from publicly available research and observation of the PLA’s joint logistics support and mobilization systems performance in the fight against the new coronavirus pandemic, we believe that the PLA’s logistics support capabilities for “large-scale joint operations,” whether in materiel supply support, medical service support, or transportation and delivery support, are currently insufficient to reach the goal of “fighting a quick battle for a quick result.” The PLA has taken extensive measures to enhance its logistics mobilization capacity to meet the requirements of “fighting a quick battle for a quick result” in “large-scale joint operations” against Taiwan. These include 12 categories: building theater joint operations logistics support network, completing the construction of a support base system, strengthening the mobile support force, boosting military logistics capacity build-up, establishing informatized joint logistics support capability, upgrading the capability to rescue and evacuate the wounded, improving trans-regional transportation and delivery capability, bringing to perfection the examination of national defense potential, establishing a “pre-positioning mobilization” mechanism, expanding new types of militia and the scale of mobilization of businesses, building an advanced national defense mobilization command information system, and consolidating civil-military integration.

Keywords: large-scale joint operations, PLA reform, provincial military district, joint logistics support force, mobilization, invasion