PLA MODERNIZATION : PLA SETUP PRIOR TO MODENRIZATION

SOURCE:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/mr.htm

PLA SETUP PRIOR TO MODENRIZATION 

         Military Regions / Military Area                                   Commands

China's military established five regional commands for its operations on 01 February 2016, President Xi Jinping's latest step in reforming the country's armed forces. State-run China Central Television reported on a ceremony held by the People's Liberation Army to mark the launch of the commands -- what the military calls "battle zones". President Xi Jinping conferred military flags on the commanders of each of the five zones.

The Central Military Commission Reform Work Conference in Beijing on 24-26 November 2015 was a gathering of more than 200 senior government officials and military brass. The CCP decided to implement by 2020 military reforms focusing on three priorities -- consolidating seven military regions into five "battle zones" - new units, to integrate army, navy and air force units; and strengthening the forces in charge of missile, space and cyber warfare, which were of growing importance in modern military conflicts. The Reform Work Conference was initially scheduled to last only a day and a half. But as the reform proposals met with criticism from military officials, the conference was extended to three days.

           SEVEN MILITARY REGIONS
                                TO    
 FIVE THEATRE COMBAT COMMANDS

Before the reforms, there were seven military regions, including the Beijing Military Region, Shenyang Military Region, Jinan Military Region, Lanzhou Military Region, Chengdu Military Region, Guangzhou Military Region and Nanjing Military Region. These regions have now been reclassified into five battle zones (or theater commands), namely the East, West, South, North, and Middle battle zones.

The new battle zones are operational formations, with acqusition functions previously associated with the Military regions, and a prime source of corruption opportunities, now centralized in Beijing.  

The joint war-fighting commands in geographic zones represented a shift in focus from homeland defense to a more external orientation based on various strategic directions of potential threats.

 This would help the PLA better focus on external threats, regional power projection, and likely enhance integrated joint operations between the services. Many of the important posts in each region were dominated by army officials. Maintaining firm control over the regions was difficult since they were locally-oriented in terms of procurement and personnel relocation. The Central Military Commission, chaired by Xi, launched a general command unit in December 2015 to control the integrated operations of ground, naval and air forces. The Commission also set up a joint operational command structure for each of the "battle zones". The joint commands overseeing combined army, navy and air force units established within each battle zone.

Experts believe the official establishment of the five "battle zones" marks a historic moment in establishing a united operational system to strengthen the army and better protect China's national security.

"The establishment of united commands for the battle zones marks a significant breakthrough for the Chinese army. The system will ensure more efficient coordination between different units. The Chinese military will therefore acquire stronger combat capabilities. Secondly, different battle zones will have different strategic emphases. The commands will better focus on their own strategic directions so as to better protect China's interests in different areas," said military expert Lou Yaoliang.

China's move to establish five new theater commands is "a breakthrough and a historic step" in setting up a joint battle command system for the military, a PLA Daily commentary said. In the previous commands, the administration and command systems were not managed separately, it said, identifying unclear functions and ineffective joint command systems as institutional barriers to winning wars.

With the new move, the theater commands can enable relatively separate management of the administration and command system and better coordination among different military services, it said. As such, a more efficient command chain for battles can be put into place, according to the commentary. The principle of the Central Military Commission taking charge of overall military administration, theater commands focusing on combat and different military branches pursuing their own development should also be strictly observed, the PLA Daily said.

Shenyang Military Area Command, which is close to North Korea, was one of the seven battle-zone commands and believed to be tasked with coping with contingency plans on the Korean Peninsula. The Shenyang Military Area Command was reclassified as The North "battle zone" with its area of responsibility including the Inner Mongolia region along with China's northeastern provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang.

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged breakthroughs in reform of the country's armed forces by 2020, vowing to reorganize the current military administration structure and military command system. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), made the remarks at a meeting on reforming the armed forces which was held from Nov. 24 to 26, 2015.

A new structure will be established, in which the CMC takes charge of the overall administration of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the Chinese People's Armed Police and the militia and reserve forces; battle zone commands focus on combats; and different military services pursue their own construction, Xi said.

According to Xi, the CMC's "centralized and unified" leadership should be strengthened to ensure that supreme administration and command status belong to the CMC and the CPC Central Committee. Xi cited measures designed to "integrate the administrative system and the joint battle command system," including a general command center for land forces and enabling the CMC to directly administer and command various military departments.

The current regional military commands will be adjusted and regrouped into new battle zone commands supervised by the CMC, Xi said. The reform will establish a three-tier "CMC - battle zone commands - troops" command system and an administration system that runs from CMC through various services to the troops.

China planned to merge four of its seven Military Regions into two in order to better coordinate the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Second Artillery Corps in a future combat environment, Tokyo's Yomiuri Shimbun reported 02 January 2014. The Jinan, Nanjing and Guangzhou Military Regions would be spared, as they focused on the disputed East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea. However, the Beijing and Shenyang Military Regions will be merged, as will the Lanzhou and Chengdu Military Regions, reducing the country's seven military regions to five.

Military Regions

	Military Region	Responsible Regions
	Beijing Military Region	Capital region and northern China
	Shenyang Military Region	NE China
	Jinan Military Region	Eastern China (North Sea Fleet)
	Nanjing Military Region	SE China (Taiwan, East Sea Fleet)
	Guangzhou Military Region	Southern China (South Sea Fleet)
	Lanzhou Military Region	Western China (Xinjiang)
	Chengdu Military Region	SW China (Tibet)

The commanders of these military regions have operational command operations of most ground forces in their geographical areas. The military area commands (theaters of war) of the PLA are military organizations set up according to the state's administrative divisions, geographical locations, strategic and operational orientations, and operational tasks. Under each military area command are a number of Army combined corps, units of various arms, logistical support units, and provincial or garrison commands. Their major functions include organizing and coordinating the joint operations and exercises of the ground, naval and air forces in each military area; exercising direct leadership over Party affairs, military training, administration, political work, logistical and armaments support of the Army units under its jurisdiction; and directing the militia, military service, mobilization, civil air defense and battlefield construction work in the military area.

The People's Liberation Army began a modernization effort following the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War, which made it clear to China's top commanders that a large and ill-equipped army was not a reliable instrument of national security policy. In May, 1985, China solemnly declared that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) would reduce military personnel by one million. Reapportionment and merger reduced the number of military area commands from eleven to seven. More than 5,900 units above the regimental level were dispersed through dismantling, merging, demoting or reforming.

Since the 1980s, China replaced the regional and field army organization and divided up the nation's troops into 7 Military Regions.

• The Southeast Area (Nanjing Military Region and Guangzhou Military Region): 5 army groups were deployed, numbering about 480,000 in total as of 1998.

• The Northeast Area (Shenyang Military Region): The total strength was approximately 310,000 persons, organized into 5 army groups as of 1998.

• The Southwest Area (Chengdu Military Region): The total manpower amounted to 180,000 persons, composed of 2 army groups as of 1998.

• The Northwest Area (Lanzhou Military Region): Two army groups are deployed in the area, a force numbering more than 220,000 in total as of 1998.

• The Capital Area (Beijing Military Region): The total strength amounted to about 410,000 persons, organized into 6 army groups as of 1998.

• The Strategic Reserve (Jinan Military Region): The total manpower was some 240,000 persons, consisting of 4 army groups as of 1998.