Theater commands of the People's Liberation Army
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A theater command is a joint military command of the Central Military Commission that is composed of units from the service branches of the People's Liberation Army in its area of responsibility, and conducts broad and continuing missions. There are 5 theater commands: Eastern, Southern, Western, Northern, and Central theater commands, organized by a geographical basis. They are responsible for developing strategy, plans, tactics, and policy specific to their assigned area of responsibility.[2]
Overview
In 2016, the seven military regions of the China were reorganized into the present five theater commands and the term "military region" became obsolete. Chinese theater commands (TC) have been likened to the geographic combatant commands of the United States military; however, China's theater commands do not (reportedly) extend beyond the nation's borders.[2] When listed by the government of the People's Republic of China, the theater commands are, by protocol, presented in order of precedence, as show below.[2][3]
- Eastern Theater Command, headquartered in Nanjing, is responsible for central eastern China and the East China Sea, and the Strait of Taiwan. The Eastern TC is responsible for matters related to Taiwan and likely Japan.
- Southern Theater Command, headquartered in Guangzhou, is responsible for south-central China, the border with Vietnam, and the South China Sea. It is likely the Southern TC would play a significant role in assisting the Eastern TC with an amphibious operation against Taiwan.
- Western Theater Command, headquartered in Chengdu, is responsible for the western half of China including the nation's borders with India and Russia. During peacetime, units under the Western TC largely focus on countering separatist or terrorist threats.
- Northern Theater Command, headquartered in Shenyang, is responsible for northeastern China, namely the Mongolian, Russian, and North Korean borders. Much of the Northern TC's focus is on managing China's shared border with North Korea. The Northern TC is responsible for matters related to Russia, Korea and Japan.
- Central Theater Command, headquartered in Beijing, is responsible for north-central China and the capital region. The Central TC serves as the national strategic military reserve and its primary mission is the defense of Beijing.[2]
Each theater command is led by both a military commander who is responsible for operations and an equally-ranked political commissar who is responsible for ideological functions of the command in keeping with the values of the CCP. The staff of a theater command's headquarters participates in committee-based decision-making instead of a hierarchical command structure used by most other militaries. Under each theater command are the single-service headquarters for the Ground Force (PLAGF), Air Force (PLAAF), and Navy (PLAN) which adhere to a dual command structure wherein each subordinate service headquarters under a theater command reports to both the theater command it is assigned to and the service's national headquarters. In wartime it is believed these services will fall under the complete operational control of their theater command.[2] Neither the Central nor the Western Theater Command have an assigned PLAN service headquarters due to their smaller coastal profiles.
Alongside each service headquarters, a theater command has organically assigned an
History
The People's Liberation Army was originally organized by
In December 1954, the existing six major military regions were reorganized into twelve regions: Shenyang (which traces history from the Northeastern Military Region), Beijing, Jinan,
The thirteen military regions established by 1956 were reduced to eleven in the late 1960s.[7] In 1967, the Inner Mongolia and Tibet Military Regions were downgraded and incorporated into the Beijing and Chengdu Military Regions.[8]
Those eleven military regions—Shenyang, Beijing, Jinan, Nanjing, Guangzhou (including Hainan Island), Kunming, Wuhan, Chengdu, Lanzhou, Xinjiang, and Fuzhou—were reduced to seven by 1985–88. From that point the active military districts included Lanzhou Military Region, incorporating the former Ürümqi Military Region, Chengdu Military Region, incorporating the former Kunming MR, Nanjing Military Region, which includes the former Fuzhou MR, Beijing Military Region, and Shenyang Military Region. Finally Guangzhou and Jinan Military Regions both appear to include parts of the former Wuhan MR.
The military regions are divided into military districts, usually contiguous with provinces, and military sub-districts.[9]
In January 2014, Chinese senior military officers revealed that the PLA is planning to reduce the number of military regions from seven to five "military areas" to have joint command with ground, naval, air, and
In February 2016, the seven military regions were reorganized into five theater commands, as part of the 2015 People's Republic of China military reform.[11]
See also
- List of military regions of the National Revolutionary Army, historic former regions
- List of People's Liberation Army Air Force airbases
References
Citations
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 4, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ ISBN 9798457607118.
- ^ "Theater Commands". Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China.
- ^ See Gucheng Li
- ISBN 9622016154, 534, citing Record of New China's Military Activities 1949-1959, 379.
- ^ Guacheng Li, 1995, ibid., 534, citing Record of New China, 411
- ^ Chapter 8, PLA Ground Forces, by Dennis J Blasko, in The People's Liberation Army as Organisation, RAND, CF182, 313
- ISBN 9781317451372.
- ^ Dennis J. Blasko, "PLA Ground Forces: Moving towards a Smaller, More Rapidly Deployable, Modern Combined Arms Force," The PLA as Organization, ed. James C. Mulvenon and Andrew N.D. Yang (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2002), 313.
- ^ China plans military reform to enhance its readiness - The-Japan-news.com, 2 January 2014
- ^ "解放军5大战区公布 习近平授军旗(图)_凤凰资讯". News.ifeng.com. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
Sources
- Li, Gucheng (1995). A Glossary of Political Terms of the People's Republic of China. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press. p. 534. ISBN 9789622016156.