Tightening the military belt

For the past week observers of China have been expecting Beijing to announce a series of reforms to drastically restructure and reshape the Peoplersquos Liberation Army The step was expected to follow the September 3 announcement during the massive military parade in Beijing that the force would cut 300000 personnel and bring its force down to 2 millionSo far this has not happened but it is a question of when rather than if Beijingrsquos imperatives for reform are obvious mdash if it wants to cope with an adversary like the US it needs to change its orthodox landoriented military into a flexible and agile force which can be used on to defend the countryrsquos borders but also for missions afarThe Peoples Liberation Army participates in a military parade at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on September 3 to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory over Japan and the end of World War II PicAFPAccording to the Chinese media and commentators the major restructuring would be from top to bottom At the very top the four key departments mdash general staff general political general logistics and general armaments mdash would be reorganised into the general political logistics and armaments departments which would now report to the general staff department which would in turn be supervised by the allpowerful Central Military Commission which is chaired by President Xi Jinping A separate reporting line would for the first time have the new general staff department report to the Ministry of Defence as wellThe current division of the PLA into seven military regions as well as the Air Force and the Navy would give way to four integrated military regions mdash the southwest southeast northeast and northwest strategic zones The size of the Army and Air Force would be drastically reduced and that of the Navy marginally There would be a new 50000 strong space force and all this is not counting the 2nd Artillery which handles Chinarsquos nuclear and conventional missile forces According to one estimate the eventual goal could well be a PLA that would be just about a million strong in addition to having another million strong paramilitary and internal security troops So in terms of the PLA army navy and air force components it would compare with the 13millionstrong US forcesThe Chinese now accept that large numbers are a liability for the modern military because they consume vast resources in maintaining and paying them Smaller highly mobile and technologically capable forces are the order of the dayXi has already taken the first steps in reform by placing key personnel in important positions of authority in the PLA More important he has initiated a massive crackdown on corruption in the force where positions were sold to the highest bidder Two former ViceChairmen of the CMC mdash Xu Caihou and Guo Boxiong mdash have been arrested along with scores of senior officers for corruptionIn his speeches Xi has emphasised the need for the military to remain under the command of the party as well as enhance its professional skills through hard and realistic training ldquoWe must ensure that our troops are ready when called upon that they are fully capable of fighting and that they must win every warrdquo is a theme he has repeated in many speechesSoon after taking over in December 2012 the CMC passed its ldquoTen Regulations on Improving the Work Style of the PLArdquo which formally banned liquor in PLA functions forbade the holding of big banquets and called on the PLA brass to adopt a simple style in their inspection tours Subsequently in April 2013 new instructions were issued ordering the PLA and Peoplersquos Armed Police generals and senior officers to spend two weeks in the frontline as enlisted soldiers every third or fourth year depending on their rankThe theme of reform came out through the decisions of the Third Plenum in 2013 as well The Plenum communique noted that the Communist Party would put in whatever resources that were required to create a modern military but in turn the military leadership were urged to enhance their innovation capacity and improve their military and professional skills and training and develop a warwinning forceFrom that time onwards talk of drastic military reform has swirled around Beijing Now after the spectacular military parade of September 3 the first ever to deal with the World War II victory the chatter has become more insistentAll this has implications for India which we can ignore at our own peril Efforts at reforming and restructuring our military remain stuck Instead of reducing our manpower we have been steadily increasing it The current fiveyear plan for example caters for an 80000increase Along with unreformed recruitment and pension procedures we will end up spending more money in pay allowances and pensions than modernising the forces to cope with the rapid technological advances taking place There were expectations that the current government would take up the task but it seems to be more focused on acquisitions than the battlewinning issues of restructuring our World War II era armed forces shaping innovative doctrines for their use and equipping them to prevail in a hightech battlefield environment In any system communist or democratic this reform can only be done through political direction Unfortunately for us this democracy at least seems to be losing out in this contestThe writer is a Distinguished Fellow Observer Research Foundation New Delhi