China’s State Council and Central Military Commission on Wednesday released revised rules for military recruitment during wartime, prioritizing recalling highly-skilled veterans to service and recruiting more “high-caliber” soldiers.
The new set of rules, which has 74 articles in 11 chapters, is the latest in China’s moves to boost its “readiness” as geopolitical tensions with the United States and across the South China Sea increase, and as it continues to assert military presence across the Taiwan Strait. The amendment marks the first time that the rules featured a separate chapter on wartime recruitment.
“High-caliber” recruits are college students and graduates, particularly those with backgrounds in science and engineering. While highly-skilled veterans are those valued for their skill and experience with advance weapons.
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“In order to ensure the normal replacement of troops and the supplementary needs of soldiers in wartime, the regulations refer to the common practices of various countries … and set up a special chapter to regulate the issue of wartime recruitment,” a CMC official said on Thursday in an FAQ explaining the “wartime recruitment” chapter to the military regulations.
The regulations say that those who receive a recruitment notice during wartime must follow their designated deployment or face punishment. The State Council and the CMC also have the authority to tweak recruitment conditions and methods “within the scope prescribed by law” during wartime.
Related to these efforts, Chinese lawmakers in February approved a resolution that would give the military the authority to amend how the Criminal Procedure Law is applied during wartime, as a way to “safeguard military missions” and “improve the ability to win in combat.”
After the amendment to the military service law in 2021, the government also amended the Reservist Law in December to add improvements to how the reserve forces will be put together, referring to “pre-assigned” citizens that will perform specific duties for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in wartime.
In February, PLA deputies also called for legislation on the mobilization of reserve forces – a gap that Beijing-based military law expert Xie Dan told Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post that the new regulations have now filled but he notes that the amendment was also driven by the need for military preparations.
“The Anti-Secession Law clarifies the conditions for resolving the Taiwan issue by non-peaceful means. Improving relevant military regulations is undoubtedly one of the important contents of current military preparations.”
Beijing on Monday concluded its latest drills around Taiwan. It was a three-day exercise to test precision strikes and its capacity to blockade the self-governed island. This display was launched following Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
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