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Showing posts with the label Military reforms in China

The Real Reason China Is Cutting 300,000 Troops ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Shannon Tiezzi)

Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- United States Military Source- The Diplomat Author- Shannon Tiezzi As The Diplomat reported previously, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced last week that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will reduce its forces by 300,000 troops. Xi made the announcement during a speech just before a massive military parade in Beijing, held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. While Xi framed the troop cut as part of the PLA commitment to “carry out the noble mission of upholding world peace,” military analysts agree the move is part of a broader context: the restructuring of the PLA as part of a push to modernize China’s armed forces. The troop reduction announced on September 3 fits in a long line of cuts and restructurings made since the 1980s. The PLA’s size has been cut four times since then–by one million in 1985, by 500,000 in 1997, by 200,000 in 2003, and now by 300,000. Yang Yujun, spokesperson