PLA Day Special Issue: Xi's Military Reforms

Special Issue (5)

Hello,

I sincerely hope that you are doing well. Today is the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Day. As the PLA celebrates its 95th Anniversary, I am delighted to share my recently published journal article with you on Xi’s Military Reforms and its Efficacy in Furthering China’s National Security Objectives. Manoj Kewalramani and I have been working on this article since October 2019, and we are happy that it was published last week in the India Quarterly Journal; and we are able to share it with you on the PLA’s 95th Anniversary. 

Abstract: The reforms intend to remove the ‘institutional obstacles, structural contradictions and policy problems’ with the aim of modernising the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) organisational structure in order to ‘further unleash its combat effectiveness’. They also aim to convert the PLA into a world-class force by 2049. However, assessing the reform process in the context of organisational structures and force-specific objectives, it appears that there remains much to be desired. The reforms have certainly made the PLA a better-equipped regional force. But they have, thus far, only had a limited impact in terms of preparing the PLA to meet key strategic and security objectives.

I sincerely hope you enjoy reading the article and find it informative and useful. The article is behind the Sage Paywall. If you don’t have access to it, please feel free to drop an email; we will be more than happy to share it with you. Manoj can be reached at manoj(at)takshashila(dot)org(dot)in, and I am, of course, available on this email. 

Happy Reading about the PLA on PLA Day. 

Very Sincerely,

Suyash Desai.

Postscript: Don’t Miss the two sections from the paper on Changes to Defence Financing and Weapons Acquisition and Weapons Allocation Across Commands.