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OPINION OCTOBER 21, 2022 | The Indian Eye 10

Understanding the Chinese People Liberation

Army’s Command and Leadership System

Chinese President Xi Jinping believes that these reforms are critical if China has to navigate the unprecedented changes that
are happening in its environment. If military backwardness begins to take shape, then it could be fatal to national security

M.S. PRATHIBHA

n 2015, the Central Military Com-
mission (CMC) issued a guideline
Ion the “Opinion of the Central
Military Commission on Deepening
the Reform of National Defense and
the Armed Forces”, which imple-
mented far-reaching reforms in the
People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Among measures, the CMC tasked
the military to establish a three-tier
chain of command for streamlining
“leadership and management” of the
military and “joint operational com-
mand” for the troops. The PLA be-
lieves that these reforms have helped
it to become successful in establishing
a “lean and efficient joint operations
command system for both peacetime
and wartime operations”, which is in-
tegral to winning modern wars.
The reforms are intended to
enable the military to fight informa-
tion-led joint warfare. The adversary
might be using sophisticated air, land
and sea systems accompanied by The two command systems are considered as the nervous system of the military management and combat in the PLA
information superiority, which can
ensure battlefield awareness during PLA to change its force composition, sure that the Party’s leadership over take shape, then it could be fatal to
the course of the war. If the PLA which had earlier relied on a domi- the PLA is centralized and unified. national security. Military reform,
does not have a chain of command nating land force. This Brief exam- Moreover, both the leadership and therefore, cannot be in a slow and
that facilitates seamless command ines the rationale for these reforms management of the military and measured manner. According to
between services and a structure that and their implementation. operational command of the troops Xi Jinping, the PLA has to not only
prioritises jointness, then it cannot China’s President Xi Jinping had would rest with the CMC as a result catch up to the trends in revolution
counter the entirety of systems of the tasked the PLA to implement the of these reforms. In other words, the in military affairs but also be at the
adversary and win wars, even if the two systems of chain of command CMC becomes the nerve center of all forefront. The PLA therefore needs
PLA has sophisticated weapons and before 2020 to successfully perform the operations from army construc- a framework that would help in win-
highly-trained personnel. the tasks and missions given to them. tion, command, training, leadership ning information-led warfare, and a
In their view, once the PLA
achieves ‘jointness’ in their com- There are two types of three-tier sys- and planning. In addition, it would joint combat command system would
tem.
streamline the CMC’s decisions by
help in performing its missions and
mand, it would enhance its joint • Leadership and Management Sys- communicating its orders in a timely in achieving the end goal.
operational capability through inte- tem (in short, leadership system). fashion to the concerned organiza- One of the reasons for creating a
grated training of different types of • Joint Operational Command Sys- tion and avoid confusion about the separate chain of command for com-
combat and support units. Especial- tem (in short, command system). responsibilities among different PLA bat is to let the theatre command
ly, employing highly-qualified offi- • The leadership system has a structures. In short, while the CMC is focus on strengthening its combat
cers and NCOs alongside complex three-tier chain of command, in overall charge, the theatre focuses preparedness. According to Xi Jin-
weapons system would not be pos- namely the “Central Military on combat operations and the mili- ping, “command” is the decisive fac-
sible without reforming the joint op- Commission–Military Services– tary services do army construction tor in the PLA’s ability to win wars,
erational command in the theatres, Troops”. The command system (building capability/modernization). especially the strategic thinking of
which would work as a valve through has a three-tier chain of command Xi Jinping believes that these re- commanders at all levels. The PLA
which such operations can be carried for conducting combat operations, forms are critical if China has to navi- believes that in the course of modern
out. Therefore, the chain of com- namely the “CMC–Theatre Com- gate the unprecedented changes that wars that are fought in highly infor-
mand for leadership and operational mands–Troops”. are happening in its environment. mation-oriented environment, the
command was reformed to help the
These two systems would en- If military backwardness begins to Continued at next page... >>

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