Abstract
China’s current round of military reforms is dramatic in nature, with ambitions of turning the Chinese military into one of the strongest forces in the world, capable of multi-terrain combat and of becoming the world’s most powerful naval force able to control distant waters. This chapter analyzes national and international contexts before China as it conducts a series of policies and measures to strongly promote military reforms. The chapter assesses the relationship between the CPC and the People’s Liberation Army in the reform process from the 18th Party Congress onwards. The attempt is to clarify if since the 19th Party Congress, it is ‘the Party that controls the gun’, or if it is the military that has the upper hand in the relationship.
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Notes
- 1.
Details available in paper titled, “The post-reform status and achievements of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army” presented at a workshop, “Studies on mainland China in 2017 and outlook to 2020”, organized by Nanhua University, Chiayi, Taiwan in 2017.
- 2.
In 2018, China conducted many exercises in the East Sea region, including many large-scale ones such as a naval parade involving both naval and air forces. This involved the participation of more than 10,000 personnel under the direct command of the Central Military Commission Chairman Xi Jinping in April and a live ammunition military exercises in the Paracel Islands from 22 to 24 March.
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Thi Thu Hien, B. (2020). China’s Military Reforms in the Wake of Recent CPC National Congresses. In: Jacob, J., Hoang, T. (eds) China’s Search for ‘National Rejuvenation’. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2796-8_6
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