Chinese Military Reform In The Age Of Xi Jinping Drivers Challenges And Implications

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has embarked on its most wide-ranging and ambitious restructuring since 1949, including major changes to most of its key organizations. The restructuring reflects the desire to strengthen PLA joint operation capabilities- on land, sea, in the air, and in the space and cyber domains. The reforms could result in a more adept joint warfighting force, though the PLA will continue to face a number of key hurdles to effective joint operations, Several potential actions would indicate that the PLA is overcoming obstacles to a stronger joint operations capability. The reforms are also intended to increase Chairman Xi Jinping's control over the PLA and to reinvigorate Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organs within the military. Xi Jinping's ability to push through reforms indicates that he has more authority over the PLA than his recent predecessors. The restructuring could create new opportunities for U.S.-China military contacts.

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has embarked on its most wide-ranging and ambitious restructuring since 1949, including major changes to most of its key organizations. -The general departments were disbanded, new Central Military Commission (CMC) departments created, and a new ground force headquarters established. -Seven military regions were restructured into five theater commands aligned against regional threats. Commanders will be able to develop joint force packages from army, navy, air force, and conventional missile units within their theaters. -PLA service headquarters are transitioning to an exclusive focus on "organize, train, and equip" missions and will no longer have a primary role in conducting operations. However, the PLA is still figuring out how the new relationships among the CMC, services, and theaters will work in practice. The restructuring will also reduce the size of the PLA by 300,000 soldiers, cutting the ground forces and increasing the size of the navy and air force.

This is an important report compilation of testimony at a 2018 hearing which provided insight into how China's ongoing military reform efforts and President Xi's vision for achieving the "China Dream" are shaping the People's Liberation Army's long-term defense planning, weapons development, and acquisition programs. The hearing specifically assessed the political and security drivers shaping China's military modernization efforts; the reformed Central Military Commission's role in coordinating modernization priorities with the military services; the development of forces capable of conducting joint operations; and implications for the United States.Panel I: National-Level Military Modernization Priorities and Force Enablers * 1. Cortez Cooper, Senior International/Defense Researcher, RAND Corporation * 2. John Costello, Cybersecurity Policy Fellow, New America Foundation * 3. Kevin McCauley, Independent Analyst * Panel II: Service-Level Military Modernization Priorities * 4. Ben Lowsen, China Advisor, U.S. Air Force * 5. James Holmes, Ph.D., J.C. Wylie Chair of Maritime Strategy, U.S. Naval War College * 6. Brendan Mulvaney, Ph.D., Director, China Aerospace Studies Institute * 7. Michael S. Chase, Ph.D., Senior Political Scientist, RAND Corporation * Panel III: PLA Modernization and Implications for the United States and Beyond * 8. Tate Nurkin, Executive Director, Strategic Assessments, Jane's by IHS Markit * 9. Jacqueline N. Deal, Ph.D., President and CEO, Long Term Strategy Group * 10. Kathleen Hicks, Ph.D. Senior Vice President, Henry A. Kissinger Chair, and Director of the International Security Program, Center for Strategic and International StudiesThe Chinese Communist Party believes that a strong military is essential to maintaining its hold on power in an increasingly competitive geostrategic environment. Since becoming General Secretary of the CCP, Xi Jinping has conveyed his vision for achieving the "China Dream" through the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation." President Xi as chairman of the Central Military Commission, China's top military decision-making body, has emphasized that a strong military is necessary to reach this goal. At the CCP's recent 19th Party Congress, President Xi revised the milestones set out for the military's development strategy. He announced an interim goal for the PLA to achieve modernization by 2035 and modified the long-term objective to become a world-class military by 2049. China's efforts to reach its military development goals will depend on the PLA's ability to implement its most sweeping reform and reorganization since the 1950s, which began in 2016 and will last through 2020. The reform effort centralizes President Xi's control over the military and seeks to improve the PLA's capability to fight regional conflicts at greater distances from China. Therefore, to better understand the challenges the U.S. and its allies and partners may face in the Indo-Pacific concerning Chinese military modernization, this hearing will examine Beijing's national-level modernization priorities, drivers behind the modernization, force enablers, and how the PLA is coordinating these priorities from the national level down among the military services.At the CCP's recent 19th Party Congress, President Xi revised the milestones set out for the military's development strategy. He announced an interim goal for the PLA to achieve modernization by 2035 and modified the long-term objective to become a world-class military by 2049. China's efforts to reach its military development goals will depend on the PLA's ability to implement its most sweeping reform and reorganization since the 1950s, which began in 2016 and will last through 2020.

"China's current military reforms are unprecedented in their ambition and in the scale and scope of the organizational changes. Virtually every part of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) now reports to different leaders, has had its mission and responsibilities changed, has lost or gained subordinate units, or has undergone a major internal reorganization. Drawing upon papers presented at two conferences co-organized by the U.S. National Defense University, RAND, and Taiwan's Council of Advanced Policy Studies, this edited volume brings together some of the world's best experts on the Chinese military to analyze the various dimensions of the reforms in detail and assess their implications for the PLA's ability to conduct joint operations, for the Chinese Communist Party's control of the army, and for civil-military integration. The contributors review the drivers and strategic context underpinning the reform effort, explore the various dimensions of PLA efforts to build a force capable of conducting joint operations, consider the implications for the PLA services, and examine Xi Jinping's role in driving the reforms through and using them to strengthen control over the military. The chapters chronicle successes and outstanding problems in the reform effort and consider what the net effect will be as the PLA strives to become a "world-class" military by mid-century, if not much sooner."--Page 4 of cover

Foreign analysts have only begun to explore the contents, drivers, and possible implications of Xi's campaign to restructure the PLA. Many issues remain shrouded in uncertainty and warrant further examination. These include: what impacts the reforms are having on PLA operations, training, and logistics; the prospects for the ground forces as the reforms' nominal biggest loser, as well as the other services; challenges the PLA is facing in cultivating operational commanders; the structure, roles, and missions of the SSF and JLSF; how the downsizing is being carried out, and what impact it might have on social stability; the implications of reform for Party control over, and Xi's influence within, the PLA; whether and how the reforms will improve coordination between the PLA and the civilian science and technology sector; what the implications might be for the defense acquisition process. This volume explores these and other dimensions of China's military reforms as they were planned and implemented between 2013 and 2018.

In late 2015, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) initiated reforms that have brought dramatic changes to its structure, model of warfighting, and organizational culture, including the creation of a Strategic Support Force (SSF) that centralizes most PLA space, cyber, electronic, and psychological warfare capabilities. The reforms come at an inflection point as the PLA seeks to pivot from land-based territorial defense to extended power projection to protect Chinese interests in the "strategic frontiers" of space, cyberspace, and the far seas. Understanding the new strategic roles of the SSF is essential to understanding how the PLA plans to fight and win informationized wars and how it will conduct information operations.

Through extensive primary source analysis and independent analysis, this report seeks to answer a number of important questions regarding the state of China’s armed forces. The authors found that the PLA is keenly aware of its many weaknesses and is vigorously striving to correct them. Although it is only natural to focus on the PLA’s growing capabilities, understanding the PLA’s weaknesses—and its self-assessments—is no less important.