By Shannon Tiezzi
The troop reduction announced by Xi Jinping heralds a new round of PLA reforms.
As The Diplomat reported previously, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced last week that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will reduce its forces by 300,000 troops. Xi made the announcement during a speech just before a massive military parade in Beijing, held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
While Xi framed the troop cut as part of the PLA commitment to “carry out the noble mission of upholding world peace,” military analysts agree the move is part of a broader context: the restructuring of the PLA as part of a push to modernize China’s armed forces.
The troop reduction announced on September 3 fits in a long line of cuts and restructurings made since the 1980s. The PLA’s size has been cut four times since then–by one million in 1985, by 500,000 in 1997, by 200,000 in 2003, and now by 300,000.
Yang Yujun, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense, held a press conference last week to provide more details. Yang echoed Xi by saying that the troop cut – and the way it was announced – “fully shows China’s sincerity and aspiration to join hands with the rest of the world to maintain peace.” The cut “also demonstrates China’s active and responsible attitude to push forward the international arms control and disarmament,” Yang added.
But when Yang was asked more specifically why the cut was being made, the answer focused on the military reform process, not on China’s commitment to peace. “Through the cut of troops’ number, China’s military will further adjust and optimize its scale and structure, make its troops more capable and its structure more scientific, and construct a modern military force system with Chinese characteristics,” Yang explained. He further noted that the troops to be cut will be “troops equipped with outdated armaments, office staff, and personnel of non-combat organizations.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat