The Daily Journalist.
On his way to reform the country’s armed forces and consolidate control of the Communist Party over the army (PLA), the Chinese authorities today announced the creation of three new military units to modernizing their equipment and command structures, “A great strategic decision will help realize the Chinese dream of having a powerful army, “according to its president Xi Jinping was quoted by state media.
This project, which was made public in September, has among its main objectives improving the fighting capacity of the largest army in the world and give it a navy and a powerful air force that can tackle the territorial disputes that the country suffers in the eastern South sea and with different nations.
The changes announced Saturday refer to three new units: one responsible for monitoring strategic missile arsenal, commanding general for the Army and a support unit for combat troops, according to Xinhua news agency.
The first one, based on the Second Artillery Corps, will take over the country’s nuclear arsenal and will report to the commander Wei Fenghe, while the strength of support will focus on cyber warfare.
The spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Defense Yang Yujun, wanted to make clear on Friday that these changes do not involve a change in the policy of nuclear weapons in the country. “China’s nuclear policy and nuclear strategy are consistent, there will be no change at all,” he said.
In addition, new plans seeking phasing out old equipment and the development of new weapons were announced.
Indeed, the Asian country confirmed Thursday it is building its second aircraft carrier, which is the first designed and manufactured entirely in the country. According to Yang Yujun, the new ship is being assembled in the port of Dalian that will carry the latest Chinese fighters and include a jump ramp, which means that its end is curved upwards to facilitate the takeoff of aircraft.
Analysts agree in pointing out that China seeks to give greater prominence to its navy and air force in the context of maritime and territorial disputes with its neighbors. On the eastern front, it maintains a dispute with Japan over the Diaoyu / Senkaku islands rich in fish and where it is believed that there is oil. Meanwhile, in the South China Sea, the dispute raging between six countries lay claim to different parts of the ocean and territories in the region, and in recent months there have been several skirmishes that have raised tensions.
“For a long time, China was not interested abroad, and the Navy and Air Force were relatively weak compared to the Army,” said analyst and university professor Ni Lexiong AFP. “To catch up with the US and European powers, China should increase the level of modernization and power of both.”
For its part, China Central Military Commission, headed by Xi Jinping made public on Friday new guidelines for the reform of the armed forces, some changes among which is included is the establishment of a centralized 2020 control, reduction military regions or cut of 300,000 soldiers to leave the total of two million uniformed.
However, the reform bill has caused some controversy in the country, especially as regards the cut in the number of personnel and military means have published a series of warning that no one who is opposed to these changes expects them to occur without cost or the negative effects that may have lost their jobs for so many people.
Analysts agree that all these variations contribute to consolidate power and control of the Chinese Communist Party over the army, an institution that has witnessed since Xi became the power of an anti-corruption campaign that has swept several senior officials, including generals of the Central Military Commission, Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, accused of taking bribes.
