Image Credit: REUTERS/Damir Sagol
There has been talk of radical reform of decades. Finally, it looks like it might happen.
The PLA is long overdue for a complete overhaul. We’ve been saying it for years, and so has the PLA. Leading China military scholars of today all agree. The PLA is an outdated, unwieldy force that belies a growing technical prowess. I am not the first to note the PLA’s glaring issues vis-à-vis fighting and winning wars; Dennis Blasko has already made many excellent points in his article earlier this year.
The chief issues can be boiled down to this: If the PLA wants to fight and be effective, it needs to enable a joint operational command environment, reform defense acquisition, reduce the role of its ground forces, and rein in regional parochialism. Of course, this premise is based not on its often vague and tepid stated goals – “defend Chinese sovereign interests.” Rather, we should look deeper to the strategic signaling indicating its military intent over the last ten years. Greater global power projection, humanitarian aid, anti-piracy participation, among other objectives (the creation of the carrier notwithstanding). If the PLA wants to do the things it seems to want to do, it needs to change.
WNU Editor: When I was working in China in the mid 1980s the first Chinese soldier that I ever saw was actually a groups of Chinese soldiers disembarking from an old truck in the Fujian city of Xiamen. Their clothes were ill-fitting. No boots (sandals). They look pathetic, haggard and hungry (yes hungry). And .... here is the kicker .... they were the officers. On my last trip to China I saw a group of regular Chinese soldiers in a restaurant outside of Beijing. They were the complete opposite of what I saw 30 years ago. Professional, clean uniforms, well fed, big, tall, and strong. So yes .... the Chinese military has definitely changed over the years .... and I am confident that they will change even more so in the years to come.
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