People's Liberation Army

People's Liberation Army 中国人民解放军
Founded	1927 August 1
Membership (2022)	2,300,000

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (Chinese: 中国人民解放军; pinyin: Zhōngguó rénmín jiěfàngjūn) is the most important wing of the armed force of the People's Republic of China.

The first use of the title "Chinese People's Liberation Army": appeared in 1946. On November 1, 1948, the Central Military Commission promulgated the "Regulations on the Unification of the Organization and Unit Designation of the Whole Army ", and all units above the regiment were crowned with the words "Chinese People's Liberation Army". Since then, the name "Chinese People's Liberation Army"has been used.

The highest military organ of the Chinese People's Liberation Army is the Central Military Commission, which is composed of the Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, Rocket Force, Strategic Support Force, and the Joint Logistics Support Force. The total number of active personnel in the Chinese People's Liberation Army is about 2 million. In 2018, China's national defense expenditure was 1,106.951 billion yuan, accounting for about 1.3% of GDP.

According to Hu Jintao, it protects the sovereignty of China and maintains world peace.

History

Civil War (first stage)

On August 1, 1927, the Nanchang Uprising broke out and launched the first attack against the Kuomintang reactionaries. It was the beginning of the Communist Party of China's independent leadership of the armed struggle and the establishment of a People's Army. August 1 therefore became the anniversary of the birth of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

From the autumn of 1927 to the spring of 1928, the Communist Party of China successively launched the Nanchang Uprising, the Autumn Harvest Uprising, the Guangzhou Uprising, the Shonan Uprising and the Jute Uprising. The troops retained after the uprisings in these areas were called the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army at that time. After May 1928, they were successively renamed the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, or Red Army for short.

War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression

The 8-Year War of Anti-Japanese Resistance broke out on July 7, 1937. On August 25, the main force of the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, referred to as the Eighth Route Army. On September 11, 1937, it was renamed the Eighteenth Army of the National Revolutionary Army. There were activities in Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei, Henan, Zhejiang and Anhui. In 8 provinces and 14 areas, the Red Army guerrillas gathered.

In October 2, 1937, the Red Army was reorganized into the National Revolutionary Army's New Fourth Army and the Eight Route Army. During the Anti-Japanese War, the Guangdong People's Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Group insisted on resisting Japan behind the enemy in South China, and then retreated northward to Shandong to belong to the East China Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. In September 1929, the 1st Independent Division of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (later called the 2nd Independent Division) was formed based on the Hainan Island Peasant Uprising. This people's armed forces experienced long-term and arduous struggles in the Agrarian Revolutionary War, the 8 Year War of Resistance Against Japan, and the War of Liberation. In October 1947, it was reorganized into the Qiongya Column of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

After the victory of the Chinese Anti-Japanese War, in 1945, a large number of troops from the liberated areas in the pass under the leadership of the Communist Party of China entered the Northeast region. On October 31, the Northeast People’s Autonomous Army was formed with the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces. On January 14, 1946, the Northeast People’s Autonomous Army was renamed the Northeast Democratic Party. coalition forces. In September 1945, the army led by the Communist Party of China had 1.27 million troops and 2.68 million militiamen.

Civil War (second stage)

On August 15, 1945, Luo Ronghuan, the commander and political commissar of the Shandong Military Region of the Eighth Route Army, proposed to change the designation of the troops to the "People's Liberation Army", and the Shandong Military Region was called the Shandong People's Liberation Army Headquarters.

On August 26, 1945, in the "Notice of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Peace Negotiations with the Kuomintang", the term "Liberation Army"officially appeared again.

In 1946, the War of Liberation broke out, and the troops in the liberated areas were successively renamed the People's Liberation Army from the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, and the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army, and were organized into five major field armies. After several years of war of liberation, the rule of the national government was overthrown, and then they entered Tibet and unified mainland China.

In 1946, the War of Liberation broke out, and the troops in the liberated areas were successively renamed the People's Liberation Army from the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, and the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army, and were organized into five major field armies. After several years of war of liberation, the rule of the national government was overthrown, and then they entered Tibet and unified mainland China.

On November 1, 1948, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China made the "Regulations on Unifying the Organization and Designation of the Whole Army", pointing out that the People's Liberation Army is divided into three categories: field troops, local troops and guerrilla troops.

The Field Army was divided into four, distinguished by place names, namely the Northwest Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (First Field Army), the Central Plains Field Army (Second Field Army), the East China Field Army (Third Field Army), and the Northeast Field Army. There are currently five military regions, which are distinguished by place names, namely, the Northwest Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, the Central Plains Military Region, the East China Military Region, the Northeast Military Region, and the North China Military Region.

Border dispute with Burma

In 1955, the PLA fought clashed with Burmese forces over a border dispute. U Nu negotiated with China in order to avoid war. In 1960, the two countries drew a border that gave some villages in Kachin State to China and ceded the Namwan Assigned Tract to Burma.^:166

Sino-Indian War

As a result of a border dispute, India threatened to invade China and initiated what it called a "Forward Policy" of military encirclement at the Sino-Indian border. The Indian government refused to negotiate with China unless the Chinese withdrew from the territory claimed by India.^:234-6 On 20 October 1962, the PLA attacked India in anticipation of the Indian invasion, and defeated India's defenses within days. It easily captured the town of Tawang, which had been annexed by India in 1951.^:165–8:74

Modernization

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the People's Liberation Army took on the task of defending national defense and participating in the socialist revolution and construction. At the same time, it carried out revolutionization, modernization, and regularization construction, so that it developed into an army composed of land, sea, air, and missile forces. A combined army. And put forward the general requirements of "political qualifications, military excellence, good style, strict discipline, and strong support"for army building.

In order to adapt to the development of the world situation, in September 1997, Jiang Zemin pointed out in the report of the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China that on the basis of reducing the number of military personnel by 1 million in the 1980s, China will further reduce the number of military personnel by 500,000 in the next three years. In this large-scale disarmament, most of the garrison troops were disbanded, and some of the Type B divisions organized by the group army were returned to the Armed Police Force.

On January 1, 2016, the Central Military Commission issued the "Opinions on Deepening National Defense and Military Reform"The Opinions clearly stated that "firmly grasp the principle of 'the Military Commission is in charge of the general, the theater is the main battle, and the military is the main construction'."The former Second Artillery Corps is the main force, and the strategic nuclear strike force of other military branches has been merged to form a new military branch: the Rocket Force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The new strategic support force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army is mainly responsible for the offensive and defensive tasks of electromagnetic space and cyberspace such as electronic countermeasures, network attack and defense, and satellite management. The former General Staff Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army was changed to the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission ; The Equipment Department was changed to the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission. After the reform, the Four Headquarters became prominently subordinate to the Central Military Commission, which was the result of changing the headquarters system to a multi-department system of the Military Commission. In addition, the General Staff Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army was changed to the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, which is also a manifestation of the reform of the joint combat command system.

On February 1, 2016, the original seven military regions of Shenyang, Beijing, Lanzhou, Jinan, Nanjing, Guangzhou, and Chengdu were adjusted to five theaters in the east, south, west, north, and center. The command system was changed and a theater joint combat command organization was established. Integrating the navy, air force and rocket force together, the war zone leads the armed police forces in the area under its jurisdiction, realizes the vertical and multi-phase command and joint and coordinated operations of cross-regional arms in the theater, and increases the mobility and joint command operations. ability. On September 13, 2016, the founding meeting of the Joint Logistics Support Force of the Central Military Commission was held in Beijing. Xi Jinping awarded the military flag to the Wuhan Joint Logistics Support Base and each joint logistics support center and delivered a speech. The joint logistics support force is the main force for implementing joint logistics support and strategic campaign support, and is an important part of the modern military force system with Chinese characteristics.

In March 2022, with the approval of Chairman Xi Jinping of the Central Military Commission, the Central Military Commission issued the "Interim Regulations on Sergeants", "Interim Regulations on Conscripts", "Interim Regulations on the Management of Sergeant Career Development", "Interim Regulations on Soldiers' Retirement Work", "On the Reform of the Soldiers System" The "Notice on Issues Concerning Conversion and Transition "and other supporting regulations will come into force on March 31, 2022.

In August 2022, with the approval of the Central Military Commission, the entire army will uniformly issue the "Chinese People's Liberation Army Sergeant Certificate", "Chinese People's Liberation Army Sergeant Retirement Certificate", "Chinese People's Armed Police Force Sergeant Certificate", "Chinese People's Armed Police Force Police "Retirement Certificate for Scholars" will be officially launched.