By Shannon Tiezzi
Xi Jinping just outlined an ambitious plan for military reforms, but implementation will take years.
On November 26, Chinese President Xi Jinping – who also serves as chair of the Central Military Commission – announced a sweeping long-term reform plan for the People’s Liberation Army. The reforms, laid out at a meeting attended by over 200 military officials, will see streamlined command over China’s military, as well as a closer watch on corruption and graft.
China currently has seven separate military commands, headquartered in Shenyang, Beijing, Jinan, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Lanzhou. That structure, and the relative independence enjoyed by each regional commander, makes joint operations (particularly overseas) difficult to organize and execute. Under the reform plan, China would reorganize the commands. Xi did not go into detail on the reform plan, but South China Morning Posts expects the restricted military to have only four military commands.
China will also move to create new “battle zone commands” designed to streamline joint operations. And the entire military structure would be overseen by a joint command, further emphasizing the necessity of interoperability between China’s military branches.
Defense Ministry spokesperson Yang Yujun told reporters that the reforms “will focus on removing systematic barriers that had constrained military development in order to boost modernization of the military as well as cultivate the fighting capacity of troops.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat