China combines India, Pakistan PLA commands

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged breakthroughs in reform of the country’s armed forces by 2020, vowing to reorganize the current military administration structure and military command system.

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 (PLA) into a more combat-ready force.

A leading Chinese military observer is suggesting the new military reform plans announced this week by Xi Jinping should help streamline the management of the military to create a more organized structure. “Focus on seizing the high ground of future strategy for military competition”. This will probably involve reducing the nation’s seven military regions.

The troop cuts and wider reform agenda have proven contentious, with the official People’s Liberation Army Daily, in a series of commentaries in recent weeks, warning of opposition to the reforms. “We must improve our economic, technological and military prowess, otherwise we will be large but not powerful, appearing strong but actually being weak”.

Yang said the reform also stresses the importance of regulating power within the military, demanding a strict system to supervise the use of power.

The two-day closed-door meeting was chaired by Jinping as chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and attended by 200 military officials. China has been rapidly upgrading its military hardware. “They are very important to the country and Communist Party of China”, National Defense Ministry spokesperson Yang Yujun said.

During wars in the 1930s and 1950s, political commissar posts were held by commanders or deputy commanders.

The defence ministry in Beijing on Friday said the government’s defence policy will remain “defensive in nature”.

Chinese leadership is also keen to bring structural reforms in world’s largest army.

China has for the first time integrated PLA area commands overseeing India and Pakistan as part of sweeping reforms under which the world’s largest Army is to junk its Soviet-era model for a US-style joint command system to fortify the ruling Communist Party’s control. 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.

Under Xi, China has been more assertive over territorial claims in the East China Sea and South China Sea, raising tensions with neighbors such as Japan and the Philippines, as well as the U.S. Xi’s policy marks a shift from China’s previous approach of keeping a low profile and not attracting attention on the world stage, a philosophy laid out by former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping.

The second source also said there would be an announcement about a restructure of the military’s nerve centre.

Liang said the change was designed to create a division of labour between military command and political power, with several overlapping institutions and departments being merged or scrapped.