China’s Ministry of National Defense reaffirmed the call, saying that it aims to reorganize the current military administration structure and its command system.
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Xi also said the PLA would build a new disciplinary structure and a new legal and political committee to make sure the army is under the rule of law.
China’s Central Military Commission held a meeting from Tuesday to Thursday. “Focus on seizing the high ground of future strategy for military competition”. China now has seven military area commands, each with separate command structures.
Xi said, the history of the people’s army is one of reform and innovation.
“Under the leadership of the party, the army has gone from small to large, from weak to strong and from victory to victory”.
The troop cuts and broader reform programme have already proven controversial, though, and the military’s newspaper has published a series of commentaries warning of opposition to the reforms and worries about job losses.
The two-day closed-door meeting was chaired by Jinping as chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and attended by 200 military officials.
That began changing in the mid 1980’s when the Chinese military began upgrading its technology to deal with the realities of more modern warfare scenarios.
On Thursday, China unveiled its biggest army overhaul in decades, including the establishment of a new joint operational command, in an attempt to turn the People’s Liberation Army into a more combat-ready force. In a book released earlier in November, as the plenum of the ruling Chinese communist party met to approve the country’s five-year economic development plan for 2016 to 2020, Mr. Qilang argued China’s objectives would be achieved faster if the military and industrial sectors worked together. The defence ministry’s political power would also expand, the source said.
“There are many high-ranking officers who may have their positions and power bases affected by the reforms, especially with the reduction of the number of military regions”, Hong Kong-based military observer Leung Kwok Leung told The Straits Times.
The move to deepen defense and military reform is aimed at breaking down systematic, structural and policy barriers, modernising the organisation of the military. Air force manpower will be reduced from 398,000 to 300,000, while the navy is to be slimmed down from 235,000 troops to 210,000. “This is also a lesson learned from last generation of military leaders, as the former CMC chairman had little real power over the armed forces”. The article was subsequently taken down from the PLA Daily website.
This will emulate the military structure of the United States.
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While China emphasises the need to solve conflicts through peaceful means, “the supportive role of military power to China’s position on the world stage has become more and more important”, the editorial said.
