The People's Liberation Army in its Tenth Decade: Assessing 'Below the Neck' Reforms in China's Military Modernization

A slew of structural changes to the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) combat capabilities, deterrence as well as military operations other than war (MOOTW) were enacted following the announcement to streamline China's armed forces in September 2015. Primarily driven by the Chinese mili...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of strategic studies 2021-02, Vol.44 (2), p.141-148
Main Author: Char, James
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Armed forces
Army
China
Deterrence
Emancipation
joint operations
Leadership
Military operations
Military strategy
Modernization
Neck
People's Liberation Army
Prospects
reform
Reforms
services
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Summary:A slew of structural changes to the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) combat capabilities, deterrence as well as military operations other than war (MOOTW) were enacted following the announcement to streamline China's armed forces in September 2015. Primarily driven by the Chinese military leadership's desire to resolve longstanding shortcomings in the PLA's ability to conduct combined arms and joint operations, unprecedented changes in the form of so-called 'below the neck' reforms gathered pace since the end of 2016. By focusing on those changes to the PLA's established service branches as well as 'new types' of forces, this brief introduction will provide a summary of the prospects and problems as the Chinese military embarks on its latest endeavour to modernize itself.
ISSN:0140-2390
1743-937X
DOI:10.1080/01402390.2020.1731953