PLA Daily 2005-04-20

　　As it has been entrusted with the sacred mission, the People's Liberation Army must make great efforts to foster the tough fighting spirit of its officers and men by centering on its historic mission in the new century and new period put forward by Chairman Hu Jintao, if it wants to make a success of its preparations for military struggle in the new period and win local wars under informationalization conditions in the future.

　　The implementation of the PLA's historic mission in the new century and new period has set higher standard and put higher requirements on the fighting spirit, fighting will and fighting style of the PLA officers and men. Under informationization conditions, the forms of war and operation patterns have changed fundamentally, and fighting efficiency of weaponry and equipment has been improved considerably. However, hi-tech war has not changed the basic relations between the people and the weapons, instead, the principal status and decisive role of people in war tend to assume greater prominence. The high degree of surprise, brutality and destruction of hi-tech war, and three-dimensional nature of war space, has posed more severe and direct life-and-death challenge upon officers and men. Due to great accuracy, invisibility and smartness of hi-tech weaponry and equipment, it is necessary for the officers and men to have the wisdom and courage to skillfully use the weaponry and equipment, and it is all the more necessary for them to be bolstered by a tough fighting spirit. On the other hand, we must also realize that although the armaments of the PLA, as a whole, have been remarkably improved, however, compared to the armies of the developed counties, there is still a big gap which can not be bridged in the near future. Thus we need to win battles with our existing weaponry and equipment, and to achieve this, we must bring into full play our political advantages through fostering the fighting spirit to make up for the “weakness” of our weaponry and equipment, make special efforts to foster the tough fighting spirit of our troops.

　　The tough fighting spirit is demonstrated in wartime, but it should be cultivated in peacetime. To foster tough fighting spirit by centering on implementing the new mission requires the officers and men to actively plunge themselves into various practical activities on the preparations for military struggle in order to comprehensively enhance the armed force's combat effectiveness. We must organize officers and men to learn new knowledge, master new equipment and new skills at their own posts and strive to become top-notch soldiers and technical experts in training. We shall cultivate tough fighting spirit of our troops in the entire course of training through strict management and rigorous training, especially through various military exercises and execution of various urgent, difficult and hazardous tasks, and through which to cultivate dedicated and heroic spirit, the scrupulous and pragmatic scientific approach, the iron discipline and teamwork spirit of our officers and men, and enable them to remain calm in the face of any change and disaster.

　　(Apr. 20, PLA Daily)