A Retrospective of Army Building
China's army construction was initiated by the first generation of collective leadership led by Mao Zedong. Following the convening of the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee, the second generation of collective leadership with Deng Xiaoping at the core inherited and developed Mao Zedong's military thoughts, led the army to undertake a comprehensive rectification, restored and gave rise to the fine traditions of the PLA, so as to direct China's military construction to a correct orbit. Since he took charge of the work of the Central Military Commission in 1989, Jiang Zemin has upheld and applied Deng Xiaoping's thoughts on military construction in the new period and, combining the new situations and tasks, has put forward the general requirements of !0being politically qualified, having a perfect mastery of military skills, having a fine style of work, being highly disciplined and forcefully safeguarding the motherland!1. Over two decades, China's army has stood up to various severe tests, including international and domestic political turbulence and the trials of the opening and the development of a socialist market economic system, has firmly upheld the correct political orientation, has maintained the nature and aim of the people's army and has guaranteed the high stability, centralization and unity of the army. The PLA has successfully completed its task of maintaining social stability by undertaking military combat and urgent, difficult tasks, such as raising counterattacks of self-defense at the national borders, conducting a series of joint military maneuvers between July 1995 and March 1996, stationing a garrison in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and fighting flooding in 1998, providing a firm security guarantee for reform and opening and socialist modernization. The facts show that the Chinese People's Liberation Army is politically up to standard, is able to pass the stiffest test at crucial moments and is worthy of the trust of the Party and the people.
Progress in the construction of the Chinese armed forces over the past two decades are mainly embodied in the following ten fields.
1. Reducing military personnel, adjusting and reforming the army system and setup, and steadily pushing towards the objective of !0better troops, improved composition and high efficiency!1. The reduction of quantity and improvement of quality have always been a feature of a development path with Chinese characteristics that has been selected for better army construction. In the late period of the !0cultural revolution!1, (1966-1976), Deng Xiaoping clearly pointed out that China's armed forces should be streamlined and reorganized, and the system and setup of army units should be adjusted. He was targeting the massive army and overexpansion of military organizations at that time.
-- Reduction of military personnel. Since the middle and late 1970s and particularly in the 1980s, China implemented planned reductions in the size of its armed forces. In 1982, the railway and construction engineering corps were collectively transferred to civilian work in related departments under the State Council and local authorities, finishing an important cut; the CMC approved the Plan of Institutional Reform, Streamlining and Reorganization of Army Units in May of 1985, deciding to cut China's troops by 1 million; and at the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in September of 1997, General Secretary Jiang Zemin announced China would further reduce the number of its military personnel by 500,000 within the coming three years. When this round of reductions has been completed, the total size of the PLA will be around 2.5 million troops.
-- Reform of the system of leadership. In light of an amendment to the constitution, in June 1983, the Central Military Commission of the PRC was established to command China's armed forces. This reform helped integrate the Party and the State's leadership of the armed forces at the top level, realizing highly centralized and unified leadership as well as rapid and flexible direction. In 1982, the leading departments of artillery troops, armored troops and engineering corps, which were formerly under the CMC, were reorganized as special departments under the General Staff Department. In 1985, China's former 11 military districts were re-designated and reduced to 7, and their institutional organizations were also greatly adjusted. The army air force was organized in 1987, leading to the establishment of the Bureau of Army Air subordinated to the General Staff Department. In 1992, the special departments of artillery troops, armored forces, engineering corps and anti-chemical warfare corps, which were formerly under the General Staff Department and various military area commands, were incorporated to set up departments of corresponding services and, as a result, their authorized size was cut by 50 percent. In April of 1998, the General Armament Department was set up, formally completing the system of the General Staff Department, the General Political Department, the General Logistics Department and the General Armaments Department under the leadership of the CMC. In the meantime, the number of organs subordinated to the four general departments was cut by 20 percent. These adjustments and reforms have further straightened relations of leadership and direction among army units at all levels, simplifying organization, optimizing structure, improving the administrative and logistic mechanisms, and raising the efficiency of direction and management.
-- Adjustment of the composition of field army. To adapt to modern warfare, the CMC advanced a principle in 1985, urging a focus on !0better troops, rational composition and improved quality!1, and decided to organize army groups on the basis of the streamlined army troops. By 1994, special arms made up over 60 percent of the entire composition of the army groups. The increased proportion of special arms and a rational incorporation of various branches of the armed forces have greatly strengthened the firepower, offensive force, maneuverability, defensive capacity and rapid reaction ability of the army groups.
-- Construction of reserve forces. In light of the guiding principle of !0incorporating a capable standing army and strong reserve forces and building a modern national defense program!1, China began to reorganize its people's militias in 1981 and established reserve service forces in 1983. China's people's militias have developed into a strong mass armed force, which includes anti-aircraft artillery troops, artillery troops, signal troops, engineering troops, anti-chemical warfare corps, and naval and air forces. In some regions, people's militia elements equipped with high-tech weapons are being organized. China's reserve service forces have currently boasted troops of all services and arms as well as elements for special purposes. Its rapid mobilization and immediate combat capacities have made remarkable headway. The reserve service forces are becoming an important force to promote economic construction and safeguard national security.
2. Fostering civilian-military talents. A civilian-military person refers to a soldier who is also capable at practical civilian techniques. According to the needs of national modernization and the hopes of the officers and soldiers, the PLA Interior Service Regulations stipulate: all army units should organize collective civilian-military training or hold scientific and cultural classes on Saturdays. Since organized training along this line was initiated in the early 1980s, nearly 1 million officers have attained the level at or above junior college education through on-the-job training; and 85 percent of servicemen have received training in a variety of civilian techniques. Nearly half of these have gained certification at technical grades. After they retire from active military service, these troops will be able to make notable contributions to the nation's economic construction and all-round social progress.
3. Placing education and training in a strategic position and raising the army's abilities in performing the modern warfare of defense. The development of combat effectiveness relies mainly on education and training in peace time. Thanks to heightened understanding, strengthened efforts and deepened reform, Chinese armed forces have constantly made headway in this field.
-- Focusing on army's combat effectiveness in modern warfare, an all-round reform of education and training has been undertaken. First, taking the characteristics of future wars into consideration, Chinese armed forces put forward a shift from the former model of training that concentrated on one element of battle to a comprehensive coordinated training program.
Next, aiming at raising the combat effectiveness of Chinese armed forces as a whole, the requirements of the three levels of training, namely individual training, platoon training and coordinated tactical training, are reformed following the principles of centering on coordinated campaign training and improving the capacities of coordinated operations, rapid reaction, electronic confrontation, logistic guarantees and survival in the field. Focusing on the study of combat methods and reforming the content of training, the Chinese armed forces have carried out consistent reforms in education and training in the 1990s, especially since 1993. As a result, three striking changes have occurred: First is the vigorous reform of army construction aimed at winning regional wars conducted under high-tech conditions. Consequently, the consciousness of fighting under high-tech conditions has been greatly strengthened among PLA officers and enlisted troops. Studies of new training programs and new combat and training methods adapting to the requirements of high-tech warfare have achieved notable progress.
Second is the upsurge of enthusiasm in studying advanced science and technology. The CMC general departments have taken a lead to hold regular lectures on modern science and technology; the army units at all levels have attached increased importance to organizing mass scientific and technological training; and the military academies have emphasized the study of advanced military science and technology. As a result, the former single knowledge structure of most PLA officers and service personnel has been transformed into a compound knowledge structure. Third is the strengthening of joint operation training, which has remarkably improved the PLA troops' capacities in this respect.
-- Starting from the demands of modernization, standardization and actual combat, the quality of training has been constantly improved. In light of the new training program and regulations, the PLA troops have organized strict training objectives and established a formal training system, emphasizing leading departments and officers, strategies and command, confrontation, comprehensive multi-duty and check-up training, experimentation in new armaments so as to narrow the gap between training and actual combat, and the active development of simulated and installation-centered training. In the meantime, the PLA troops have also restored parade and strengthened military exercise. Since the 1980s, the PLA troops have performed more than 100 major military exercises. Among these, the campaign exercise with unprecedented scale that was held in October 1995 and the campaign exercise that was jointly performed by army, navy, air force and the secondary artillery troops in March 1996 have proven the new height of training.
-- Guided by the principle of !0working for modernization to face the world and the future!1, military academies have fostered a large number of quality military personnel able to contribute to the national defense drive and army construction. On the basis of the re-establishment of the military academies that had suffered severe damage during the !0cultural revolution!1, China's military academy system has been further completed. The University of National Defense was set up both to train high-ranking commanders, senior staff officers and senior theory researchers and to serve as an advisory body for the CMC and its general departments. The five-level educational system for low, middle and high-ranking commanders and special technical officers, which encompasses senior professional middle school, junior college, university, master's school and doctor's school, has taken shape. The proportion of those finishing correspondence courses to total PLA officers rose from 15 percent in 1980 to 63.7 percent in 1997, while that for officers at and above the rank of regiment reached 90 percent.
-- Focusing on military theories and the characteristics and laws of national defense and army construction, research in military science has flourished. Military science study is in full swing, which has resulted in re-establishing and completing the formation of military research institutes, setting up a batch of military societies, publishing many military journals, and conducting academic exchanges with foreign armies. Since the mid-1980s, research in military theories have realized three great leaps. In light of the strategic transformation of the guiding principles of national defense and army construction, the first leap began to focus on the features of modern local wars. The second leap took place after the outbreak of the Gulf War, resulting in the study of regional wars under high-tech conditions. Centered on implementing the military strategies of the new era, the latest leap has paid close attention to winning local wars under advanced technologies, especially high-tech conditions.
4. Paying attention to strengthening the armed forces through science and technology and constantly improving the modernization level of weaponry. Research in national defense science and technology, especially the most advanced branches, have made a series of significant achievements. In terms of strategic weapons, the successful missile launch by a submarine in October 1982 marked a leap in China's strategic missile capability from using liquid fuels to using solid fuels and from land-based launches to underwater mobile launching and, as a result, China became the fifth country in the world boasting the capacity of submarine launches. For the first time, China took advantage of a mobile launching unit to launch a land-to-land strategic missile using solid fuels in May 1985, and a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine successfully conducted underwater high-speed navigation, torpedo launch from excessive depth and other important experiments in the South China Sea between April and May of 1988. In the fields of military electronic information technologies, China has developed a batch of relatively advanced equipments using new instruments and technologies. The successful development of the Galaxy Super Computer capable of 10 billion calculations per second is a symbol of the notable progress China has achieved in manufacturing large computers. Aerospace technologies have also developed apace. To date, China has developed three major satellite series, including near-earth orbit retrievable satellites, sun-synchronous weather satellites and geosynchronous telecommunications satellites. China's technologies concerning satellite survey and control have caught up with the world advanced level. Research in manned space flight is now underway.
The general level of Chinese weaponry has been remarkably improved, allowing the availability of more and more advanced combat means. The weaponry system of the navy, which can satisfy the needs of performing naval mobile operations, base defensive operations and ship-based nuclear counterattack in self-defense, has initially taken shape. In the meantime, naval mobile formations' antiaircraft, anti-submarine, anti-vessel and electronic confrontation capacities have also made some headway. Progress in these two fields have jointly laid a solid foundation for the implementation of the military strategy of off-shore defense. The air force's weaponry system, consisting of high, middle and low-technology weapons, is a rational combination of fighters, attack craft, transport planes and various types of aircraft for the purpose of support and logistics. The establishment of an antiaircraft firing network, which covers high, middle and low altitudes as well as long, middle and short ranges, and a nationwide air defense radar network have added to the means of antiaircraft, air attack and landing operations. The secondary artillery force has initially set up a weaponry system including both nuclear missiles and conventional missiles, short, middle and long-range missiles and intercontinental missiles. The force is therefore able to launch nuclear counterattack in self-defense and conventional attack in depth independently or in coordination with other services and arms. The ground force has basically developed a weaponry system suited to three-dimensional and mobile operations and a relatively coordinated support and logistics system, greatly improving its independent combat capacity and creating conditions for joint operations of various services and arms. On the basis of progress in electronic information equipments in terms of digital level, comprehensiveness, integration, and security and anti-interference performances, Chinese capacity to utilize and control electromagnetic frequency spectrum as well as to timely and accurately fulfill electronic information support and guarantee have also been elevated.
A notable fact is that progress in weapons construction has been achieved under a relatively low level of defense expenditure in the past 20 years. Between 1979 to 1997, the percentage of national defense expenditure to total GDP dropped from 5.6 to 1.09 percent, far below the present world average level of 3 percent.
5. Greatly improving the quality of cadre ranks. Deng Xiaoping repeatedly urged the establishment of !0revolutionary, young, educated and professional!1 cadre ranks. The PLA has taken this principle as a key to realizing self-improvement and has obtained remarkable accomplishments.
-- Related laws and regulations have been improved. A batch of basic laws and regulations have been formulated and put into effect, including Military Service Regulations Pertaining to PLA Officers in Active Service, Regulations on the Military Ranks of PLA Officers, Temporary Regulations on PLA Civilian Staffs, Law on the Reserve Officers of the PRC, Three-Year Plan of Construction of the Leading Groups of Army Units At and Above Corps Level, Temporary Regulations Concerning Appointment and Removal of Leaders of Army Units At and Above Regiment Level, Opinions on Further Implementation of the System of School Training and Promotion of Middle and High-Ranking Commanders, Temporary Regulations on the Establishment of Duties of PLA Special Technical Personnel, Circular on Strengthening and Improving Selection and Promotion of Grass-root Cadres, and Temporary Regulations on Enrollment System of Military Academies. Moreover, several hundred concrete policies and regulations concerning officer selection, appointment and removal, training, inspections, promotion, exchange, reward and punishment, demobilization, retirement, salary and welfare have been made so far.
-- Structure of leading groups at all levels has seen remarkable improvements as a result of the breakthrough in employment of the younger generation of cadres. The completion of several rounds of large-scale replacement of leading members of the army units at and above regiment level has smoothly pushed forward the cooperation and replacement of old and young cadres. The employment of military cadres is undertaken in an institutionalized and standardized way. A large number of outstanding, young cadres are developing in the ranks.
-- Thanks to the strengthened education and training, the PLA officers' educational and professional level has risen prominently. On the basis of universalizing senior high school (senior professional high school) education by 1988, higher education has entered the focus of attention. Higher education examinations for the self-taught service personnel majoring in four unique specialties of military supplies, armaments, military aircraft maintenance and military high technologies have been opened. Tens of thousands of officers have been organized to take part in classes at military academies and ordinary universities. These measures have effectively improved the educational and professional level of the cadre ranks. PLA officers with educational background at or above junior college level accounted for 58.8 percent of their entire group in 1997, compared to 9 percent in 1978; and special technical staffs made up about a half of the total of PLA officers, of which those with senior titles of technical post accounted for 10.9 percent, a 9.6 percent increase over that of 1980.
6. Building the armed forces in accordance with the law and promoting the regularization of the armed forces. In order to ensure the unified implementation of the nation's relevant laws and regulations in the armed forces, the State has established mechanisms of military law enforcement, military justice and military legal institutions, and legal service organizations, forming a fairly complete military legal system in the armed forces. The military law enforcement system is mainly formed from relevant leading organs and functional departments at various levels. In addition, discipline inspection organs and financial auditing organs have been set up in units at and above the corps level, which carry out supervision and inspection over law enforcement, as well as garrison service organs in garrison units in large and medium-sized cities, which check, inspect and handle cases of infringements of military discipline and cases of violations of relevant rules by military vehicles. The military judicial system is composed of military courts and procuratorates established by the State at the three levels of the PLA, the military district and the corps, which, together with the PLA's security departments at various levels, exercise their respective functions and powers and handle criminal cases involving military personnel in accordance with the law. The military legal system is composed of the legal organs or personnel authorized by the Bureau of Legislative Affairs of the CMC, the various general departments, services and arms, and military area commands, and is in charge of the legal work of the entire PLA as well as the various army units. The legal service organizations are composed of legal advice offices and legal counseling stations of the army units at various levels, which provide legal advice and services to help leading military organs at various levels as well as for individual officers and service personnel make decisions.
7. Strengthening construction of logistics facilities and raising capacities of comprehensive guarantee. National defense engineering construction has advanced in China since 1978. Over the past two decades, the nation's defense-preparation engineering system, which takes military harbors, airports, positions, telecommunications centers and missile launching positions as its backbone, has been further completed; a military logistics base system, featuring rational distribution, proper size, effective protective measures, fine storage conditions and highly mechanized level, has taken shape; the construction of a large number of civil-military airports and harbors has contributed to the formation of an intensive and comprehensive national defense transport network; and, a total of 20,000 engineering projects serving the frontier guards and troops garrisoned in arduous regions have been completed and put into use, solving these troops' problems in combat readiness, housing, water and power supply, heating and medical care.
8. Performing the basic functions of the armed forces and playing a pillar role in safeguarding national sovereignty and security. To ensure national development and the happy lives of the people, the PLA is devoted to its duties of defending the integrity of China's territorial land, waters and airspace. The armaments and material conditions of the frontier guards have seen remarkable improvements. Patrolling aboard helicopters and performing duties with the help of infrared monitors and radar have become a reality for these troops.
In early 1993, the PLA Hong Kong Garrison was organized. Under the direction of the CMC, the PLA Hong Kong Garrison is composed of ground, naval and air forces. Its establishment was an important event in both China's politics and the development of the PLA. On July 1, 1997, the PLA Hong Kong Garrison entered the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to take charge of its defense. The stationing of the PLA troops in the region is an important symbol of the Chinese government's resumption of the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong. It is also an important guarantee for the maintenance of the region's long-term prosperity and stability. Since their entry into Hong Kong, the PLA troops have strictly abided by the HKSAR Basic Law and the Garrison Law, fulfilling their defense duties within the legal framework, strengthening military construction along regular lines, winning the support of various sectors of Hong Kong society, and attracting the appreciation of the media around the world.
9. Taking the whole situation of the country into account and making important contributions to national construction. Participating in and supporting the country's construction is an important task entrusted by the Constitution to the Chinese armed forces, and a reflection of the fundamental purpose of the people's army -- to serve the people wholeheartedly. Since the 1980s, while fulfilling its education and training tasks, the Chinese army has taken an active part in and fully supported the nation's economic construction, and through this it has made significant contributions to the country's prosperity and development.
-- Turning military facilities over to the public or converting them to civilian use. While cutting back on the number of personnel, the Chinese armed forces have transferred part of their military facilities to local authorities or opened them to the public to support the country's construction. Over the past 20 years, China's armed forces have opened 101 airports to the public, and opened or surrendered 29 harbors and docks, more than 300 special railway lines, 90 telecommunications lines, some 1,000 warehouses and over 3 million square meters of land on former military reserves as well as related facilities.
-- Participating in emergency rescue and disaster relief work. China has a vast territory, and local natural disasters are frequent. Whenever a natural disaster occurs, the armed forces are always in the forefront of efforts to protect lives and property. Over the past two decades, they have participated in emergency rescues and disaster relief efforts on more than 100,000 occasions. They have mobilized more than 23 million troops and organized more than 1 million vehicle trips and some 15,000 plane and ship journeys to save more than 10 million people and transport more than 200 million tonnes of materials.
-- Participating in the construction of key national and local projects. The armed forces have participated in the construction of many key national and local projects and undertaken urgent, difficult and dangerous tasks connected with these. In the past two decades, they devoted more than 4 billion man-hours and organized 25 million vehicle trips to participate in and support over 10,000 key projects, including 150 railway, expressway and underground railway projects, 340 tunnels and culvert projects, 260 bridges, 4,100 kilometers of highways and railways, 50 docks, 40 civil and civil-military airports, 500 energy projects, 2,000 water conservation projects, 20,000 kilometers of optical fiber cable telecommunication lines and 500 economic and technological development and tourism development projects.
-- Bringing the superiority of talented personnel and technology into full play and assisting civilian projects with the use of science and technology. Military academies, scientific research and medical units, and special technological units support national construction by transferring scientific and technological findings to the civilian sector or by offering assistance in tackling key technical problems and personnel training. In the last 10 years, China's armed forces have supported more than 1,000 national economic construction projects with their advanced scientific and technological achievements, solved urgent and key problems for more than 150 scientific research projects, transferred some 10,000 scientific and technological findings to the civilian sector, trained nearly 1 million scientific and technological personnel, and helped civilian enterprises complete over 900 technical transformation projects that enabled 320 enterprises to get out of the red and become profitable.
-- Supporting the development of agriculture and the work to aid the poor areas. China is a large country in which agriculture has long been the basis of its national economy. In the past 10 years, the Chinese army has dredged more than 500 rivers, built 200,000 kilometer of canals and dams, set up about 1,000 reservoirs and reclaimed wasteland and leveled 2 million hectares of farmland, which has laid the foundation for good harvests. In addition, the troops stationed in impoverished areas have made great efforts to help the locals develop production by setting up a total of 23,000 poverty-relief plots, where nearly 1 millions people were helped to get rid of poverty and began to realize a better-off live. The army has attached importance to the aid work in the 20 poorest areas, including Yimeng Mountain and Taihang Mountain areas. In these places, they helped set up over 3,500 township enterprises, accomplished 12,000 projects with scientific and technological methods, and trained 450 agricultural technicians. Army medical organs at different levels and army hospitals have dispatched an accumulated 860 medical teams to poverty-stricken areas. They also offered help to 8,100 township hospitals through a one-on-one method, donated medical equipment worth more than 20 million yuan and trained 20,000 medical workers.
-- Participating in social public service. In the past 10 years, the PLA has offered a total of 100 million man-hours in building 100,000 public works projects, including building roads and bridges, cleaning up and beautifying the environment, and building projects for the supply of water, electricity and gas. They have planted 400 million trees. They have donated 41.6 million yuan and materials worth 11 million yuan to Project Hope and built 697 Project Hope primary schools, which have helped 115,000 drop-outs return to school.
(CIIC)
