Chinas Goldwater-Nichols Assessing PLA Organizational Reforms

Abstract

In the past few months, China has announced a series of major reforms to the organizational structure of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA): the Central Military Commission (CMC) has been revamped, the four general departments dissolved, new service headquarters created, and five new theater commands established in place of the seven military regions (MRs). These changes are part of a sweeping transformation of PLA institutions, force structure, and policy that will be ongoing through 2020. In pursuing these reforms, Chinas leaders hope both to tighten central political control over a force that was seen as increasingly corrupt and to build the PLA into a credible joint warfighting entity. Yet important obstacles remain, and it may be years before the implications of these reforms come into full view.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2016
Accession Number
AD1006824

Entities

People

  • Joel Wuthnow
  • Phillip C. Saunders

Organizations

  • National Defense University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Cyber
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Forces (Foreign)
  • Command And Control
  • Doctrine
  • Force Structure
  • Law
  • Military Forces (Foreign)
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Navies (Foreign)
  • Organizational Structure
  • Security
  • Training
  • Unified Combatant Commands
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Asian Economic Studies
  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.