People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the collective name for the ground, air, naval, and strategic forces of the Communist Chinese military. The current PLA is one of the largest military forces in the world. Its army, which numbers more than three million, is the largest in the world. It also has a fairly sizeable navy and air force, and its nuclear forces, while small compared to those of the United States and Russia, rank as the fourth largest. However, many of its weapons and equipment are antiquated and limited in their ability to project military force beyond China's borders.
The origins of the PLA date back to 1 August 1927, when the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was established by the Chinese Communists to fight a guerrilla war against the Nationalist (Guomindang) forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887–1975). During the Maoist period (1949–1976), the PLA was transformed from a loosely organized guerrilla army into a professional fighting force closely resembling the Soviet model, although there was always some tension between those who favored further professionalization and those who wanted the PLA to remain a revolutionary organization.
The PLA has historically been deeply involved with the governance of the country, although it has always remained subordinate to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rule. Top party leaders, including Mao Zedong (1893–1976) and Deng Xiaoping (1904–1997), have historically had extensive experience in, and connections with, the Red Army. The PLA forms one of the three pillars of power in the Chinese Communist political system, alongside the CCP and the Chinese state or government. It enjoys equal rank with the State Council, the highest governmental body, and answers only to the Military Affairs Commission of the CCP. It is the Communist Party, in other words, and not the government that commands the PLA. In fact, party control over the PLA has been so important that the only official position held by Deng Xiaoping, China's preeminent leader during the 1980s, was chairman of the Military Affairs Commission. Another indication of the PLA's involvement in domestic affairs is that it runs a vast network of military industries and transportation links that accounts for a significant part of the nation's economic output. During the 1980s and 1990s, China's leaders have sought to further professionalize and modernize the PLA in an effort to disentangle it from domestic affairs and redirect its mission toward external security.
Shawn Shieh
Further Reading
Jencks, Harlan W. (1982) From Muskets to Missiles: Politics and Professionalism in the Chinese Army, 1945–1984. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Joffe, Ellis. (1987) The Chinese Army After Mao. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Shambaugh, David, and Richard H. Yang, eds. (1997) China's Military in Transition. Oxford, U.K.: Clarendon Press.
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