China to drastically overhaul its People’s Liberation Army

[eatshitndie]

no fight against america's super carriers.

 

[M1Abrams]

China’s People’s Liberation Army must change its outdated mindset, military mouthpiece warns

Officers must throw off ‘army-first’ thinking and adapt to new command structure to produce a modern fighting force, says PLA Daily

PUBLISHED : Monday, 14 December, 2015, 3:06pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 15 December, 2015, 12:05am

Jun Mai
[email protected]

New PLA recruits take part in a training session at a military base in Heihe in China’s northeast Heilongjiang province, last month. Photo: Reuters

China’s People’s Liberation Army should drop its army-centric mindset and break free from the constraints of vested interests as it adopts the new joint-command structure, said a front-page commentary in the military’s mouthpiece on Monday.

The exhortation came amid speculation of resistance to the ambitious reforms.

“Building the joint command of our military is indeed a reallocation of the power to command. It will entail readjustment of interests,” the PLA Daily said. “Our training should forsake the conventional army-centric mindset and swiftly adapt to joint-command trainings.”

It added that some officers only paid lip service to the idea they must evolve to be ready for future conflicts.

The South China Morning Post earlier reported that the PLA’s top brass was told last month the seven military commands would regrouped into five strategic zones.

As part of the overhaul, President Xi Jinping, who also chairs the powerful Central Military Commission, announced that the army would shed 300,000 troops, leaving it with 2 million personnel. The cuts would result in 170,000 military officials losing their jobs.

The Daily also criticised how commanders were failing to seriously explore how best to organise land, sea and air defence assets, the commentary said.

“Some still let the army play the leading role, letting planes from the air force fly a few laps and the tanks drive a few races.”

The reforms under way offered a chance to cure such chronic diseases in the military, it said.

The PLA’s mouthpiece earlier published a commentary saying the present system of seven military commands and four headquarters was outdated, too centralised and challenged the Communist Party’s absolute leadership over the army. The overhaul, it said, aimed to consolidate the CMC’s power and the party’s control over the gun.

The latest commentary carried the byline “Xie Xinping”, a pseudonym. In July last year, the mouthpiece said the pseudonym was the Putonghua homophone of the “PLA Daily’s news commentator”, indicating the name is used only when discussing the most important military issues.

Overseas Chinese political gossip outlets have reported in recent days that the PLA could miss its reform deadline as appointments of commander positions for the newly established strategic roles remained unfilled.

The Post reported earlier that the original military commands would be dismantled on December 20, and the five-combat-zone system could be running as early as January 1.

“Building a joint-command system means readjusting the power and juristiction of commanding units, requiring some units to hand over their power,” said military commentator Wu Ge. The most difficult part of the reform was the cancellation and merging of units and some officers may not comply, he said.

“It’s ... also a problem of studying,” said military expert Ni Le*xiong. “Under the new joint command system, the officers are required to learn knowledge about other military branches.”

Two PLA officials had earlier warned Beijing that it could destabilise the armed services if it went ahead with plans to restructure and slash the size of the military without addressing salaries.

 

[Howitzer]

PLA to announce overhaul: five 'strategic zones' will replace regional commands, most army HQ to be scrapped

General Liu Yuan bids farewell as last political commissar of General Logistics Department, while sources say new West zone will be home to more than third of land-based forces

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 20 December, 2015, 2:09am
UPDATED : Sunday, 20 December, 2015, 1:09pm

Minnie Chan
[email protected]

Beijing is close to announcing massive military reorganisation that will concentrate troops in far west and closer to North Korea, experts say. Photo: Xinhua

The People’s Liberation Army is close to announcing how it will be organised into five new “strategic zones” and the army’s four headquarters regrouped, according to sources, as part of a huge overhaul to modernise and improve the efficiency and combat readiness of the military.

General Liu Yuan, political commissar of the PLA’s General Logistics Department, one of the army’s four headquarters, wrote a farewell letter to staff on Wednesday saying he would be “the last political commissar of Logistics” and that he would “absolutely obey the reforms”, introduced by President Xi Jinping.

Liu’s farewell was circulated among Beijing military officials and was posted by Luo Yuan, a retired PLA major general, on his social media account.

The letter indicated that the army’s powerful Central Military Commission, chaired by Xi, would scrap three of the four army headquarters: the General Political department, General Logistics and General Armaments. Only the General Staff department stays.

The South China Morning Post reported in September that the PLA military overhaul included plans to consolidate the seven regional commands into five units and to reorganise the four army headquarters.

One of the sources said that Liu was likely to be the secretary of the new military discipline inspection commission.

PLA General Liu Yuan.

The most striking features of the proposals for the five new military zones are a vast new West zone that makes up more than half the country and a larger North zone that will concentrate on Mongolia, the Russian Far East and the Korean peninsula.

The Post reported on Tuesday that the changes to the old military command system were expected to be completed by the end of the month and that the new five strategic areas, also referred to as combat zones, could be up and running as early as January 1.

Sources said plans were nearing completion for the new West zone – by far the largest of the five – to include more than a third of the nation’s land-based military.

The area is home to only 22 per cent of the country’s population, many from the ethnic minorities groups and non-Han Chinese.

“The West combat zone will concentrate on threats in Xinjiang (新疆) and Tibet and other minority areas, close to Afghanistan and other states that are home to training bases for separatists, terrorists and extremists,” one of the sources said.

Another source close to the army said the proposal had been revised in recent weeks to move the West zone headquarters to Urumqi instead of Chengdu or Lanzhou.

President Xi announced in September the PLA would be cut by 300,000 troops to two million by 2017. Sources said up to 70 per cent of forces axed would be officers in land-based units.

A source in Jinan (濟南) said that so far it had been confirmed that the 13 army groups based in the current Beijing, Shenyang (瀋陽), Nanjing (南京) and Guangzhou military commands would be kept.

Graphic: SCMP

The Macau-based military observer Antony Wong Dong said the PLA was trying to learn from the US and Russian armies by shifting from the traditional divisional structures to the more nimble and efficient brigade system, with personal strength of each combat group decreasing from 15,000 to about 4,500 personnel.

“If the PLA is going to meet international standards, it’s a must that all the existing army groups should further be downsized to divisions,” Wong said.

He added that the PLA had started to carry out similar reforms since 1998.

“Officials from army units are the key opposition force hindering the overhaul. The sweeping reforms will go smoothly only when commanders of army groups are willing to give way.”

The Guangzhou and Nanjing commands have been renamed South and East zones.

The Jinan command has been included in a large Central zone that will mainly protect Beijing, while the North zone will include all the northeast provinces and Inner Mongolia.

“The top priority of the Central zone will be to focus on protecting the capital and let the North zone concentrate on issues with Mongolia, Russia and North Korea,” the source said. Beijing believed the Korean peninsular nuclear issue would prove more challenging under Kim Jong-un’s leadership, the source added.

The East and South combat zones, which also house the PLA’s key naval bases, would be responsible for China’s maritime security in the East and South China seas, one source said.

Hong Kong-based military expert Liang Guoliang said these latest plans could still be revised at the last minute.

“It’s possible that the PLA will change their plans at any time as all the officials must obey without question whatever the party and the CMC wishes to do,” Liang said.

He cited the example of when Deng Xiaoping decommissioned one million troops in the 1980s, which saw Chengdu (成都)military command – originally tipped to be scrapped – eventually retained. At the time the neighbouring Kunming military command was tipped to usurp Chengdu, but was amalgamated with Chengdu.

 

[Leongsam]

Not a good photo... the crest on the building in the background looks like it is part of his peak cap at first glance.

The photographer should have fixed it post production.

PLA General Liu Yuan.

 

[eatshitndie]

Not a good photo... the crest on the building in the background looks like it is part of his peak cap at first glance.

The photographer should have fixed it post production.

it should have been crested with a raven riding a bald eagle.

 

[Howitzer]

Xi calls for army paper loyalty amid military reforms and job cuts

President makes first trip to party mouthpiece since taking control of the military amid plans for massive cuts to the nation’s armed forces

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 27 December, 2015, 4:06am
UPDATED : Sunday, 27 December, 2015, 4:11am

Zhuang Pinghui
[email protected]

President Xi pictured during his visit to the paper. Photo: Xinhua

President Xi Jinping (習近平), also the head of the country’s military, has paid a rare visit to the headquarters of the PLA Daily in a sign suggesting he was trying to keep a tight grip on the top army mouthpiece amid sweeping military reforms and job cuts.

Xi, chairman of the Central Military Commission, called for the newspaper to uphold the Communist Party’s absolute leadership over the army and maintain a high degree of consistence with the party leadership, Xinhua reported.

It was first his visit to the newspaper since he became the military chief in 2012.

Xi also sat before a computer terminal and typed out a social media message to send a new year greeting to the army during his visit.

The president announced a major restructuring of the nation’s military earlier this year, including massive cuts in personnel and plans to create new command systems intended to organise land, air and sea forces into a more modern, efficient and combat-ready army.

Xi said the newspaper should rally support for the reforms from the rank and file of the military.

“Military propaganda work An excellent public opinion environment must be created for advancing the national defence and military reforms.”

The newspaper revealed a new editor-in-chief on the same day Xi visited the newspaper.

Major General Sun Jilian, former director of the PLA television publicity centre, has replaced Major General Tan Jian, who has turned the retirement age of 60.

The newspaper last month carried a rare article expressing concerns Beijing could destabilise the armed services and society if it went ahead with plans to restructure and slash the size of the country’s military without addressing the issues of salaries and pensions.

The article was by two senior researchers at the PLA National Defence University’s department of strategic education and research. Their public show of concern suggested Xi’s ambitious plans have met some resistance from within the military.

The president has pledged to cut the size of nation’s army by about 300,000 personnel.

The seven military commands of the PLA will be replaced by five new strategic zones in the biggest reforms of the military in decades.

“The PLA Daily must step up political awareness and strictly implementing the requirement of having the newspaper run by political [staff] to ensure only those loyal to the party control the newspaper,” Xi was quoted as saying.

The newspaper was founded in January 1956 and is celebrating its 60th anniversary.

Xi had always attached high importance to the newspaper’s status as the party’s official mouthpiece in the army, Xinhua said.

He served a secretary in the general office of the Central Military Commission from 1979 to 1982.

 

[dredd]

Rise of the yellow peril?

 

[M1Abrams]

D-Day for PLA: China launches new theatre commands in drive for modern military

Land force leaders continue to dominate top posts

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 02 February, 2016, 12:11am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 02 February, 2016, 12:31am

Zhen Liu
[email protected]

Central Military Commission chairman Xi Jinping greets senior officers from the PLA Navy, Army and Air Force. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The PLA has officially abandoned its decades-old seven military regions, replacing them with five new theatre commands in its bid to establish a modern, integrated force.

But ground force personnel still dominate the leadership of the People’s Liberation Army’s new zones, a move one analyst said would help ensure stability in the transition.

With the announcement yesterday of the new commanders and political commissars, the heads of the east, south, west, north and central commands will be responsible for the territorial defence of those areas. They will no longer directly administer the troops in each region, but focus instead on joint command of the ground, naval, air and all other forces.

As part of the changes, Lanzhou region chief General Liu Yuejun, 61, takes on the role of head of the eastern command.

General Wang Jiaocheng, 64, moves from the Shenyang region to the southern command; Jinan region commander General Zhao Zongqi, 61, becomes head of the western command; and former Beijing region commander General Song Puxuan, 62, becomes head of the northern command.

The appointments confirm a South China Morning Post report last month.

At the inauguration ceremony in Beijing on Monday, President Xi Jinping presented flags to the commanders and political commissars of each of the five zones. Xi, also the chairman of the Central Military Commission, told the chiefs their goal was to be able to command joint operations in battle.

“Each command must concentrate on studying modern warfare … and proactively seize the initiative in a future war,” Xi said”. “[You should] enhance joint command, joint action and joint logistics, and ensure troops are combat ready and complete military missions.”

Retired colonel Yue Gang said the military was making a big change and had to be cautious.

“The transformation from military regions to theatre commands is huge, so the step has to be taken carefully,” Yue said, commenting on the army’s continued dominance of the top jobs.

“These army commanders have the experience and prestige to lead this transition and are safe choices.”

The political commissars of Nanjing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenyang will stay on as the commissars of the new commands.

The exception is the central command, where Lieutenant General Han Weiguo, 60, has been promoted to commander, and Yin Fanglong, 62, former deputy chief of the General Political Department is the new commissar.

“Commanders with battle experience have been put in areas with a high risk of war but the selections for the central command reflect more concern about maintaining stability,” Yue said.

 

[ovxnscz]

Rise of the yellow peril?

ask yellowarse

 

[steffychun]

China will make the US look small soon

 

[frenchbriefs]

1 billion chinks in china,why do we have to serve conscription NS?import 50,000 of them to protect singapore,thats more than enough for form 5 battalions.

if all things go wrong,just surrender to our enemy.we can become colony of china,come on guys lets raise our flags and sing the national anthem of the PRC.

mao ze di ren di pao huo qiang jing qiang jing qiang jing jing!!!

 

[uzstwv]

1 billion chinks in china,why do we have to serve conscription NS?import 50,000 of them to protect singapore,thats more than enough for form 5 battalions.

if all things go wrong,just surrender to our enemy.we can become colony of china,come on guys lets raise our flags and sing the national anthem of the PRC.

mao ze di ren di pao huo qiang jing qiang jing qiang jing jing!!!

That will be a great idea to exterminate both Tiongs and sinkies noting how Tiongs reduced their own polulation through Shoddy Elevator engineering, explosion of lithium batteries, electrocution of smartphone batteries using low quality made counterfeits batteries, tainted milk poisoning, the list can go on..........

 

[frenchbriefs]

no fight against america's super carriers.

View attachment 24802
View attachment 24803

china can line up 1 million soldiers with 50 calibre machine guns with armor piercing steel cores and those aircraft carriers will sink.

 

[steffychun]

no fight against america's super carriers.

View attachment 24802
View attachment 24803

UK carrier is STOL not CTOL

 

[JohnTan]

With this reorganization, I am confident that the China will be able to beat the US, secure the South China seas, humiliate Japan and retake Taiwan!