State Media Spotlight Central Theater Staff Officer in Joint Command Drive

Chinese state media outlets have highlighted Li Can, a staff officer within the Joint Staff Department of the Central Theater Command, as part of the military's "Most Beautiful Revolutionary Soldier of the New Era" publicity campaign. Coverage published by China Military Online and People's Daily emphasizes the role of theater staff officers in joint operational planning and cross-service coordination. The reports underscore the PLA's push to break down service-specific silos and cultivate specialized joint warfare personnel capable of harmonizing disparate branch standards across theater commands.

The profiling of a theater command staff officer provides insight into the PLA's operational requirements for joint command staff following military structural reforms. It illustrates how theater commands seek to eliminate coordination bottlenecks across different service branches and establish standardized operational workflows.

Chinese state media outlets have spotlighted Li Can, a 21-year veteran staff officer serving in the Joint Staff Department of the Central Theater Command, showcasing him as an exemplar under the military's "Most Beautiful Revolutionary Soldier of the New Era" campaign. According to China Military Online, Li spent years working in brigade and group army headquarters before transferring to the Central Theater Command headquarters. Recognized as an "All-PLA Outstanding Staff Officer," Li is portrayed as focusing on joint operational planning and inter-service coordination within the joint operations command center. The report highlighted his efforts to bridge gaps between different armed services, noting that individual branches often operate with different standards and metrics that must be unified into a single operational language during joint campaigns. The coverage detailed instances during joint exercises where Li challenged and refined operational schemes, emphasizing that synchronized planning across multi-service formations is essential for joint warfare effectiveness. State media reported that Li previously represented his unit in military-wide staff officer competitions, helping secure a team victory after the contest format was changed to evaluate comprehensive operational capabilities. A related commentary published by People's Daily cited a metaphor often used by Li, comparing combat readiness preparation to "washing clothes in the dark." The piece noted that military readiness requires rigorous, unseen preparation, iterative tactical simulations, and precision adjustments down to the second, warning against formalism and complacency during routine training. The publicity campaign surrounding Li reflects the PLA's broader emphasis on refining theater-level joint command mechanisms, which were created during the sweeping organizational reforms launched in late 2015 to replace legacy military regions with theater commands focused on integrated joint operations.