Most recently the People’s Republic of China (PRC) introduced many guidelines on military reforms. According to Chinese Defense Ministry (January, 2016) China’s military has set up 15 new units covering everything from logistics to equipment development, political work and fighting corruption as part of an ongoing drive to modernise the world’s largest armed forces. This would make the top command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) more flexible and efficient.
It is hoped that new units would help the military function well and consolidate the Communist Party’s control. One of the new departments is a dedicated auditing office which will organise and guide audits and supervision for the entire military and strive to be independent. It constitutes an enormous shift in the organization of the Chinese military. These new services will join the PLA Navy (PLAN) and PLA Air Force (PLAAF).
Under the Central Military Commission (CMC) leadership, the area commands will focus on engagement, while the PLA army, navy and air force will focus on developing their respective forces. The PLA is undergoing major structural reforms which are expected to lead to the seven current military regions being reduced to five.
Key Change
It sets up three commissions’ disciplinary, political and legal affairs, and technology which will report directly to the CMC to give them more power and autonomy. The CMC will also assume leader ship of the People’s Armed Police, a paramilitary outfit that takes part in civilian policing and fire rescue duties and provides support to the PLA during wartime.
The CMC takes charge of the overall administration of the People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese People’s Armed Police and the militia and reserve forces, battle zone commands focus on combat preparedness, and various military services pursue development.
The CMC has a dual organ of military control in China and is comprised of top party and military officials. It serves as the highest point of military command authority. Its body is responsible for Communist Party oversight of the armed forces. The four general departments that have been replaced staff, politics, logistics and armaments were all serving under the control of the CMC. The reshuffle of the CMC departments highlights the centralized leadership of the CMC in both administration and command of the PLA, which will ensure the multiple-department CMC becomes more efficient in supervision and coordination.
New Formation
New Chinese military reforms set six new departments in the form of a US-style joint chief of staff command. It will provide advice to the CMC on personnel deployment and battle strategies. Military regions long headed by only army generals, some of the strategic zones, especially those located along the coast, are likely to be headed by navy or air force commanders as they can better cope with aerial and maritime defence threats. More naval and air force commanders could take up posts in the CMC.
Main Goal
The overall goal of the newly announced reforms is to achieve progress and concrete results before 2020 in military administration and joint operational command, optimizing military structure, enhancing policy systems and civilian-military integration, and building a modern military with Chinese characteristics that can win information age wars.
New Structure
This includes three commissions discipline inspection, politics and law, and science and technology as well as the general office. It has five more commissions discipline namely, administration, auditing, international cooperation, reform and organizational structure, and strategic planning. There are six new departments: joint staff, political work, logistical support, equipment development, training, and national defense.
Previously, all these functions came under just four headquarters under the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) General Staff, General Political, General Logistics and General Armaments. Chinese President Xi Jinping described the restructure as a breakthrough and called the new leadership system a crucial step towards a stronger military.
Aims
According to recently announced Chinese military reforms, it aims to enable the CMC to focus on its core missions, integrate similar functions, and intensify supervision and better act as a coordinator. After the reform, the decision on some specific matters will be left to lower level authorities.
Significance
(a) It would develop a modern military system capable of winning information-age warfare.
(b) It will not change China’s defense policy which will remain defensive in nature and that the Chinese armed forces will always be a staunch force to safeguard world peace and regional stability.
(c) It would be based on the nation’s existing strategy as the missions of the armed forces have expanded from safeguarding national security to more global tasks, such as overseas peace keeping and escort missions.
(d) Achieving a breakthrough in military administrative system and joint combat system.
(e) Getting rid of systemic hurdles, develop combat capability and build a powerful national defense
(f) Strengthening the absolute leadership of the Party over the military.
(g) PLA is to maintain “correct political direction under a series of designs and arrangements to consolidate the basic principle that the CCP has absolute leadership of the armed forces.
| Reforms | Details |
| Military Administration and Command | A new structure is established, in which the CMC’s centralized and unified leadership and the CCP Central Committee, take charge of the overall administration of and command over the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Under the CMC’s leadership, the area commands will focus on engagement, while the PLA army, navy and air force will focus on developing their respective force. |
| Chinese People’s Armed Police; battle zone commands | It focuses on combats and different military services pursue their own construction. |
| General Command Centre for Land Forces | It is a fundamental change, marking an enormous shift in the balance of political power within the PLA, as the ground forces no longer are automatically associated with the four General Departments that actually run the entire PLA. It would help complete military service and facilitate future joint operations. |
| Command Mechanism over four Staff Departments | It would be set up to centralise a command structure previously shared by four staff departments, including those responsible for logistics and politics. The joint operational command structure was needed to ensure the ability to win a modern war. |
| Regrouping Military Regions/ Military Area Commands | The current regional military commands will be adjusted and regrouped into new battle zone commands supervised by the CMC. The regrouping is a structural reform aimed at better integrating the command over the PLA. |
| Military Regulatory Power | It would demand a strict system to regulate and supervise the use of power. Decision-making, enforcement and supervision powers will should be and distributed in a manner that ensures they serve as checks and balances on each other but also run in parallel. |
| Military Transparency | A new discipline inspection commission will be established within the CMC and disciplinary inspectors will be sent to CMC departments and zone commands. |
| Better Military Judicial System | It will have an audit office and a political and legal affairs commission. The independent and fair exertion of judicial power by military courts and lawyers will be ensured with adjustments to the military judicial system. |
| Innovative Military | It will transform Chinese military and make it an innovative military capable enough for any future competition. |
| Better Personnel Management | Better personnel management will have driving force in the future. It will include medical care, insurance, housing and payments for servicemen. It consists of management techniques so that the army is managed professionally. |
| New Military Structure | It will be optimized to improve the quality and efficiency of the army. China will cut its troops by 300,000 and administrative and non-combatant personnel in the military will be downsized. The proportion and structure of forces among different services will be streamlined to suit new security needs and operations |
| Further Strengthening Civil-Military Cooperation | Cooperation between civil and military bodies is to be encouraged and the defense industry is to be opened for the private sector. |
The above table clearly shows that the comprehensive military reforms have been announced in order to modernize the military. It is all about rigorous personnel management, integrative command sys tem, better regulatory agencies, optimization of professionalism and new/innovative command systems. It is hoped that China’s seven military regions which have separate command structures that tend to focus on ground-based operations, are reduced. Moreover, Chinese military region structure would be redrawn and a joint operational command structure set up which is meant to help coordination between different parts of the defense system.
It is hoped that new sets of reforms will prevent graft and prevent military leaders from acting beyond their authority by separating the agencies responsible for Party discipline, law and auditing from the four departments. The audit office, previously under the General Logistics department could better supervise the financial problems of the military by sending representatives to com bat zones as now comes under direct control of the CMC.
China has been moving rapidly to upgrade its military hardware but integration of complex systems across a regionalised command structure. has been a major challenge. Prior to the recently announced military reforms the regional level military commanders enjoyed comparative advantage over their forces. The branches of the military have remained highly independent, making it difficult to exercise the centralized control necessary to use new weapons systems effectively.
According to guidelines of the newly announced Chinese military reforms, move to form the PLA Army general command, the PLA Rocket Force and the PLA Strategic Support Force is a major decision by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the Central. Military Commission (CMC) to realize the Chinese dream of a strong military, and a strategic step to establish a modern military system with Chinese characteristics. Main char-acteristics are given below as:
| PLA Rocket Force | Strategic Support Force |
| New reorganization elevates the Second Artillery to full-blown service status. It will now be treated as a true co-equal to the ground forces, navy, and air force. It has under its control not only land-based nuclear strategic missiles but also the two other components of the nuclear triad: submarine-launched ICBMs and strategic bombers. | Its tasks would apparently include not only logistics but also high-tech operations like electronic, space and cyber warfare. |
China has restructured its military as part of a modernization push which is a major policy decision to realize the Chinese dream of a strong army. It would achieve core force of strategic deterrence. It includes phasing out older military hardware and developing new weapons systems. The reforms also strengthen the Communist Party’s control over the People’s Liberation Army, the world’s largest standing army.
Strategic Orientation
It is hoped that the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), which controls the PLA and is chaired by President Xi Jinping, is set to gain more powers. The powers of China’s military regions will also be reduced. The existing seven military regions are set to be reorganised into five combat zones and will focus solely on preparing for battles, ceding their administrative powers to the newly-set-up army unit.
It will be a milestone in the modernization of the Chinese military and will be recorded in the history of the people’s armed forces. The move to deepen defense and military reform is aimed at breaking down systematic, structural and pol icy barriers, modernizing the organization of the military, and unleashing the combat capacity of the military. It is also aimed at building a firm defense and strong military commensurate with China’s international standing and interests in security and development.
New Orientation
After the newly announced reforms, following changes will be part of Chinese military in the future.
| Central Military Commission (CMC) | |
| General Office of Central Military Commission (MC) | |
| Joint General Staff of Military Commission | |
| Political Work Department of Military Commission | |
| Logistic Department of Military Commission | |
| Equipment Development Department of Military Commission | |
| Training Management Department of MC | Military Defense Mobilization Department of MC |
| Discipline Inspection Commission of MC | Politics and Law Commission of MC |
| Science and Technology Commission of MC | Strategic Planning Office of MC |
| Reforms and Establishment Office of MC | International Military Cooperation Office of MC |
| Auditing Administration Office of MC | Administrative Affairs Office of MC |
Rationales
(a) There is an urgent need to bring change in the inner workings of the military. Because China wants of catch up with the changes occurring in other militaries worldwide.
(b) China’s military organizations Structure needs the “Central Military” in direct control and creating new battle zone commands. These changes all have a subtext reform of the military region system. Would improve its overall operations, functions and commands.
(c) Chinese military reforms are long overdue. The last division of military regions in China was made in the 1950s there have been no strategic adjustments for more than 60 years. China’s military has not adapted to the modern era.
(d) It would institutionalize battle effectiveness and defense capability.
(e) It would first giant step towards “military innovation” and conceptual change.
(f) Paradigm shift in thought patterns of within different branches of Chinese military.
(g) It establishes the idea of joint operations integrating multiple services.
(h) It would build a modern military power system with Chinese characteristics that can win information-based wars and effectively fulfill its mission.
(i) Informatization is the core of modern military development and the reality of the world military revolution to which the Chinese military has now adapted in its new reforms.
(j) It is a great strategic adjustment from military passivity to military initiative after 30 years in which the Chinese military has not engaged in a battle. The flare-ups in the South China Sea dispute and increased terrorist attacks only deepen China’s understanding of the urgency of military reform. The fundamental purpose of introducing military reform is to maintain a stable environment for China’s development, both domestically and internationally.
Concluding Remarks
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has announced new sets of long awaited military reforms. It has multiplier effects on command system which would be better of its overall national, regional and international plans. It restructures its military on modern lines of education, innovation, discipline and the last but not the least, operations.
It has collective wisdom of its high officials, military experts, war strategists, researchers and above all planers to make Chinese military a “role model” for others in the days to come. It has strategic orientation too. Establishment of new agencies/organizations and sets of guidelines would bring desired goals even before 2020.
Establishment of joint command and centralization of decision making would streamline its diversified but integrated policies and plans related to national security, modernization and better personnel management system would prove a strategic asset in the days to come.
New Chinese military reforms support information, cyber technology and hybrid warfare which would shape it on the patterns of modernity and innovation. Introduction of so many regulatory bodies are meant to eradicate incidents of corruption in the ranks of military and its different departments. Moreover, separation of power would enhance spirits of accountability and transparency in the military.
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is blessed with the strategic vision of President Xi Jinping due to which the march towards socio-economic prosperity, geo-political stability and geo-strategic consolidation has already been initiated to achieve the “China Dream” in the days to come.
