First Disclosure of Cyber Forces Stationed at Yongshu Reef: PLA's Information Warfare Front Advances 1,200 Kilometers South

On February 12, during a video address to the entire military for the Spring Festival, Xi Jinping appeared in a scene that could easily be overlooked: the commander and political commissar of the PLA's cyber forces stationed at Yongshu Reef in the South China Sea reported their work to the Supreme Commander. This is the first official disclosure of this newly established military branch, which has been in existence for less than a year, being deployed at a frontline position far from the mainland.

Yongshu Reef is located in the central part of the Spratly Islands, approximately 1,200 kilometers from Sanya, Hainan Island. What does this distance mean from the perspective of cyber warfare? Simply put, it means that China's information warfare front has advanced more than a thousand kilometers southward, with electromagnetic spectrum monitoring directly covering the entire South China Sea.

A New Military Branch Nine Months Old

The PLA's cyber forces were officially established on April 19, 2024, taking over the functions of the former Strategic Support Force's Network Systems Department. The core logic of this reform is to elevate cyber warfare capabilities from "supportive" to "independent military branch"—a rare organizational structure among major military powers globally.

It is noteworthy that the U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) remains a subordinate unit under the Strategic Command and has not become an independent branch. China has chosen to place its cyber forces alongside the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Rocket Force as an independent military branch, based on the strategic judgment that in information warfare, cyber warfare is no longer a supportive means but a key factor determining the outcome of battles.

According to a press conference by the Ministry of Defense in April 2024, the core tasks of the cyber forces include:

• Offensive and defensive cyber operations
• Protection of information infrastructure
• Control of the electromagnetic spectrum
• Cyber intelligence collection

It took less than nine months from establishment to deployment at the South China Sea frontline. This speed is not common in the history of the PLA—consider that it took the Rocket Force several years to develop combat capability from its formation. A reasonable speculation is that the core personnel and equipment of the cyber forces mainly came from the former Strategic Support Force, rather than being built from scratch.

Why Yongshu Reef

Yongshu Reef was not a random choice. This artificial island has a 3,000-meter runway, a large harbor, and complete logistical support facilities, and has been one of the PLA's most important military bases in the Spratly Islands since 2016.

From a technical perspective, there are three obvious advantages to deploying cyber forces at Yongshu Reef:

First, a central geographical location. Yongshu Reef is centrally located in the Spratly Islands, about 1,200 kilometers north of Hainan Island, approximately 500 kilometers south of Malaysia, and about 400 kilometers east of Palawan Island in the Philippines. Establishing an electromagnetic monitoring station at this location can cover the entire communication spectrum of the South China Sea—including military communications of surrounding countries, commercial satellite data links, and undersea cable relay stations.

Second, complete infrastructure. In the video, the commander of the cyber forces mentioned that Yongshu Reef has "strong support in all aspects and complete living facilities." This is not an empty statement. According to public reports, Yongshu Reef has established an independent seawater desalination plant, hospital, oil storage facilities, and satellite communication station. For network warfare equipment that requires 24-hour operation and has high demands for power and air conditioning, these are essential support conditions.

Third, strategic deterrence significance. The presence of cyber forces at Yongshu Reef sends a clear signal to surrounding countries: China not only has a physical presence in the South China Sea (warships, aircraft) but also possesses the capability for continuous penetration in the information domain. This is a variable that cannot be ignored for Southeast Asian countries that rely on U.S. satellite communications and data links.

A Bigger Puzzle

When placing this disclosure in a larger context, some interesting clues emerge.

When the cyber forces were established in April 2024, the "Information Support Force" was also established simultaneously. The division of responsibilities between the two is: the cyber forces are responsible for offensive and defensive operations, while the Information Support Force is responsible for intelligence, electronic countermeasures, and psychological warfare. However, in practice, the tasks of these two forces in the South China Sea are likely to overlap significantly—electromagnetic monitoring, satellite communication jamming, GPS spoofing, and cyber infiltration are capabilities that are difficult to strictly categorize as "offensive" or "supportive."

Another detail worth noting is the organizational scale of the cyber forces at Yongshu Reef. The video only featured the "commander" and "political commissar," rather than a "battalion commander" or higher rank. According to PLA organizational conventions, a "commander" typically refers to a company or battalion-level unit, with personnel ranging from dozens to hundreds.

This scale may seem small, but it is sufficient for cyber operations. The characteristic of modern cyber warfare is "few personnel with sophisticated equipment"—dozens of high-level cyber offensive and defensive engineers, combined with large server clusters and satellite communication equipment, can achieve information monitoring and interference over a range of thousands of kilometers.

Questions That Remain Uncovered

In the official report, the commander of the cyber forces at Yongshu Reef reported to Xi Jinping that the unit is in "combat readiness duty," "maintaining a state of readiness at all times." However, what he did not mention is: what kind of combat readiness tasks is this unit actually executing?

Is it routine electromagnetic spectrum monitoring? Or is it pre-positioning for cyber infiltration against specific targets? Or is it providing information support for future "joint island reef operations"?

The more critical question is: does the deployment of cyber forces in the South China Sea mean that the PLA is preparing for an "information blockade" in the event of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait? If a conflict breaks out in the Taiwan Strait, can the cyber warfare capabilities at Yongshu Reef coordinate with the Eastern Theater Command to implement electromagnetic interference and cyber attacks on Taiwan and surrounding U.S. military facilities?

The answers to these questions are unlikely to appear in any public reports. But one thing is certain: the choice to publicly debut the cyber forces in the Spring Festival video itself is a strategic declaration—China's military presence in the South China Sea has expanded from the physical domain to the information domain. And the speed and depth of this expansion may be faster than the outside world imagines.