< Kanwa news March 11, 1999> According to the Chinese military source, the digitization of the Chinese army requires that the commanders should have great learning and become the ones that possess both extensive general knowledge and superb military strategy and tactics. This indicates that the Chinese army is also in the process of trying digitizing itself in some ways. Recently, the Chinese army has repeatedly emphasized that education and training should be geared to the future needs.

A military scholar stresses in a relevant literature that a digitized army requires a highly resourceful and intelligent commander. Therefore, he calls for knowledgeable commanders. It is required that the future commanders should have great learning and superb strategy and tactics and should be good at thinking and planning.

In the meantime, the military scholar also underlines the automation in command. According to him, the commanders should be versatile and possess the ability to skillfully use the computer network and to correctly apply information. All these requires that the commanders should gradually become computer experts.

In addition, the military scholar also indicates that the future battlefield characterized by the combination of land, sea, sky, space, and electromagnet requires the commanders to have great foresight with heterogeneity and farsightedness in their thinking. He also emphasizes the importance of tenacity and adaptability of their willpower. The commanders should fearlessly face the cruel struggle either in the form of 'hard strike' by firepower or 'soft attack' by information.

Generally, the Chinese army has come to realize the importance and necessity of producing future commanders. In the meantime, it also tries to get close to or catch up with the developed Western countries in the theoretical area. It has established its own theoretical system to deal with the future hi-tech wars and to train its commanders< Kanwa Digest news Satoko Tomiyama>.

---