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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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