But Zhao Xiaozhuo with the Academy of Military Sciences says the organizational structure hasn’t really kept up with the times.
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A new structure and one in which China’s Central Military Commission will be in charge of both administration and command, of the People’s Liberation Army.
According to Yang, the Central Military Commission organised more than 860 seminars and forums to solicit suggestions on the unprecedented reform. The organizational changes would aid China’s shift from a land-based military to one able to project force far from its coastline.
Yang Yujun, spokesman of China’s Ministry of National Defense said:”We insist the reform from top to bottom will be done via step by step implementation promoting reform of each stage as a whole”.
The reorganization will help build a strong military force that suits China’s global status, fits its national security interests and provides a guarantee for the “Chinese dream” of rejuvenating the Chinese nation.
Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told a press briefing that the overhaul, which includes modernising the command structure of the world’s largest armed forces, would not change China’s “defensive” national defence policy, according to a transcript of his comments.
The troop cuts and broader reform programme have already proven controversial, though, and the official People’s Liberation Army Daily has published a series of commentaries in recent weeks warning of opposition to the reforms. 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.
“Decision-making, enforcement and supervision powers should be separated and distributed in a manner that ensures they serve as checks and balances on each other but also run in parallel”, Xi said. The independent and fair exertion of judicial power by military courts and procuratorates will be ensured with adjustments to the military judicial system.
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“Veterans have been through strict military education and training as well as hard missions”. But there remains the challenge in integrating the complex systems across different military regions and services. President Xi Jinping, who is chairman of the commission, gave guidelines on the reform at the conference. 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. Reforms will be carried out and deepened in the management of all personnel, as well as the systems of medical care, insurance, housing and payments for servicemen.
