| |
Military Legal System
It is stipulated in the National Defense Law of the PRC that the armed
forces of the PRC shall abide by the Constitution and laws. To meet the
requirements of the development of the country's legal system building,
China's armed forces have implemented the guideline of governing the armed
forces according to law, strengthened military legal system building and
gradually brought the building of national defense and armed forces onto
the track of the legal system.
China's military legislation has significantly accelerated since 1998.
The NPC Standing Committee has enacted the Law of the PRC on Garrisoning
the Macao Special Administrative Region, providing legal basis for the
Macao Garrison to station its troops and perform its defense duties according
to law. The revision of the Law of the PRC on Military Service System
has further improved China's military service system. The State Council
and the CMC have revised the Regulations on the Service of the PLA Soldiers
on Active Service, and the CMC has stipulated more than 40 items of military
regulations such as the Regulations of the PLA on Institutional Education
and the Regulations of the PLA on Border Defense Duties, providing full
legal guarantee for the strengthening of the building of national defense
and armed forces, the promotion of various military reforms and the protection
of the legitimate rights and interests of the officers and soldiers. The
PLA general headquarters/departments, the services and arms and the military
area commands have formulated over 300 items of military rules, further
advancing the course of governing the armed forces according to law.
Based on the relevant laws of the state, China's armed forces have formed
a military judicial system which is composed of the military courts, military
procuratorates and internal security organs, respectively exercising the
trial, procuratorial and investigating powers in accordance with the law
with regard to criminal cases within the armed forces. The military courts
are special people's courts set up by the state in the armed forces and
consist of three levels: the PLA, the military area command and the corps.
The military courts independently exercise trial power in accordance with
the law. The trial procedures are the same as those for ordinary people's
courts. A military court at the next higher level is the court of appeal
for that at the next lower level. The military courts accept criminal
cases within the armed forces and may accept other cases with authorization
from the Supreme People's Court. The military procuratorates are special
people's procuratorates set up by the state in the armed forces and consist
of three levels, which are the same as those for the military courts.
They independently exercise procuratorial power in accordance with the
law. A military procuratorate at a higher level directs the procuratorial
work of that at a lower level. The military procuratorates, in accordance
with the provisions of the Criminal Procedures Law, assume the responsibility
of examining criminal cases investigated by the internal security organs
and deciding whether to approve an arrest or to initiate a prosecution;
directly accepting and investigating criminal cases involving crimes committed
by taking office advantage and deciding whether to make an arrest or to
initiate a prosecution; exercising supervision over the legality of the
investigatory and judicial activities of the internal security organs
and the military courts. The president of the PLA Military Court and the
procurator-general of the PLA Military Procuratorate are appointed or
removed by the NPC Standing Committee. The internal security organs, set
up in the political organs of the PLA units at or above the regiment level,
carry out investigation of criminal cases within the armed forces in accordance
with the provisions of the Criminal Procedures Law. China's military judicial
organs shall render criminal punishment, in accordance with the Criminal
Law of the PRC revised in 1997 and the four Geneva conventions and the
two 1977 additional protocols to which China has all acceded, on military
servicemen for their acts in violation of international humanitarian law
such as maltreating prisoners of war, injuring, killing or plundering
innocent residents in times of war.
The military lawyers in the armed forces and their legal services are
administered in line with the national lawyers system. Military lawyers
must obtain state-set qualifications after passing uniform national examinations.
The armed forces are manned with military lawyers at three levels: the
corps, the division and the brigade. At present, there are 272 military
legal advisory sections with 1,688 full-time or part-time lawyers. Military
lawyers serve as legal advisors to the commanding officers and organs
in their decision-making, act as defender when accepting authorization
by criminal defendants or act as agent when accepting authorization by
military units or servicemen.
Military legal knowledge has been incorporated into the military education
and training of the PLA units and the curriculum of military academies
and schools. In accordance with the unified national plan, China's armed
forces have launched three five-year campaigns from 1986 to 2000 to popularize
legal knowledge. Law courses are taught to cadets and officers in various
military academies and schools, covering national laws, military regulations
and rules, fundamental legal knowledge and international humanitarian
law.
Downsizing and Restructuring
In September 1997, China announced an additional reduction of 500,000
military personnel over the next three years. By the end of 1999, this
reduction had been achieved, and the adjustment and reform of the structure
and organization of the armed forces had been basically completed.
Reducing military personnel by compressing the scale of the armed forces.
The PLA was reduced to less than 2.5 million by downsizing the Army, restructuring
the naval and air units, deactivating some units with outdated equipment,
restructuring logistical support and equipment management systems, military
academies and schools and training establishments, and dismantling and
merging internal organs of the units at and above the corps level to cut
a total of 500,000 persons. Of all the services, the Army was cut by 18.6%;
the Navy, 11.4%; the Air Force, 12.6%; and the Second Artillery Force,
2.9%.
Making the leading organs at and above the corps level leaner by streamlining
the organizational structure. By undergoing readjustment of functions,
and cutting and merging departments, internal bodies and personnel are
reduced. By dismantling and merging subdivisions in the PLA general headquarters/departments,
military area commands and services and arms, both the subordinate sections
of the specialized organs and personnel were reduced by about 20%. Following
this, the total number of organs at and above the corps level was reduced
by over 1,500, making the command structure leaner, more agile and efficient.
Over 290 business management bodies engaged in commercial activities were
either completely dismantled or handed over to local governments.
Optimizing the PLA's structure through readjustment. The Army field troops
deactivated some corps headquarters and a number of divisions and regiments,
thus further improving the organizational structure. The Navy, Air Force
and Second Artillery Force dismantled or merged some of their organic
units through elimination of outdated equipment and restructuring. After
readjustment, the Army field troops have become more integrated, smaller,
lighter and more versatile. The services and arms featuring higher technology
make up a higher percentage of the armed forces. Their structure is further
optimized.
Straightening out relations within the PLA through structural reform.
The General Armament Department has been set up to readjust the weaponry
and equipment administration system. Centralized management for the major
items of weaponry has been achieved. The weaponry and equipment construction
has been placed under unified leadership and the across-the-board and
life-cycle management strengthened. The logistical support system has
been readjusted. A joint logistical support system based on military area
commands, which combines area support with organic support and general
supply with specialized supply, has been established. These have greatly
enhanced the all-service integrated and intensive support capability.
The reform of educational and training institutions has resulted in the
reduction of military academies and schools, expansion in the scope of
individual institutions, upgrading in officer training and greater percentages
of officers selected for training. The military academies and schools
are moving in the new direction of enlarged scale, modernized instruction,
standardized management and socialized logistical support.
Ideological and Political Work
The Chinese armed forces have all along given priority to ideological
and political work. In the new historical conditions, the tasks in this
regard are: To provide powerful spiritual motivation to win in future
high-tech wars, and to provide a reliable political guarantee for preserving
the nature of the people's army, its distinctive character and style of
work.
The ideological and political work in the Chinese armed forces aims at
raising the overall quality of the officers and men and producing a new
generation of officers and men, who are strong ideologically and politically,
competent militarily, knowledgeable in science and culture, and fit physically
and mentally. To achieve this, the improvement of political quality must
be integrated with the improvement of overall quality; the study of advanced
ideology with the grasp of general knowledge; the educational guidance
with practice; and the strict discipline with greater self-control. To
win future wars, the Chinese armed forces resolutely give play to their
power in ideological and political work, educate officers and men with
correct ideological theory, encourage them with a lofty revolutionary
spirit, nurture them in a good political environment, and discipline them
strictly with rules and regulations. The Chinese armed forces constantly
strive to increase the ideological consciousness, dauntless spirit, sturdy
style of work and iron discipline of their officers and men, and to increase
their awareness of modernization, science and technology and creativity,
and to raise the all-round fighting capability of the armed forces.
The Chinese armed forces adhere to the absolute leadership of the Communist
Party of China and persist in making it their aim to serve the people
heart and soul, placing the interests of the state and people above everything
else and carrying forward the patriotism and revolutionary heroism of
the rank and file. They cultivate in their officers and men a firm faith
in revolutionary ideals and a spirit of sacrifice and dedication, foster
in them a correct outlook on the world, life and values, educate them
to support the reform, to have a correct regard for the interests adjustment
arising in the reform, to persist in building the armed forces through
diligence and thrift, and to always maintain the armed forces' true political
qualities of arduous struggle.
Military Training
The PLA has always attached strategic importance to military training.
Proceeding from the needs of real fighting, the PLA conducts arduous and
strict training of its troops. Through decades of development and continuous
reforms and carrying forward its good traditions, a unique and relatively
complete system of troop training and institutional education has taken
shape.
In the late 1990s, the PLA, in order to adapt to profound changes in
the world's military affairs and win high-tech local wars, actively engaged
in military training featuring new technology, and energetically carried
out military training reforms. In the development and innovation of military
theories, new conditions and characteristics of high-tech local wars have
been studied in depth. New disciplines in military training have been
set up. Operational training theories, especially for combined operations,
have been continuously improved. Newly-revised doctrines for operations
and battles have been promulgated to adapt to the new situation. In updating
training programs, emphasis has been laid on the learning of and training
in new knowledge, skills, equipment and warfare. A new training program
system has taken shape, with the focus on enhancing the level of difficulty
and intensity of training. In improving training methods and means, the
practice of base training, and simulated and network training have been
actively promoted. A combined tactical training base system suitable for
various combat training requirements has been established, and the linking
of campaign and tactical models with weapon system simulators as well
as a network linking models of services and arms and specialized models
have been basically completed. In addition, a distributive interactive
operational command and control simulation system, new equipment operation
training simulators and a computer-aided training system have been widely
applied. A military training information network covering all the major
units and academies and schools of the PLA has been set up. To improve
the training management mechanism, efforts have been made to strictly
carry out the PLA's Military Training Regulations and other training statutes,
conduct regularized training, and enhance the organization, leadership
and administration of military training consonant with the new situation
arising from the state and armed forces' reform. In recent years, joint
and combined arms exercises have been meticulously organized in the Lanzhou,
Jinan, Nanjing and Guangzhou military area commands, greatly raising the
comprehensive quality of officers and men and the overall fighting capability
of the troops under high-tech conditions.
With the basic objective of training new high-quality military personnel,
and bearing in mind the needs of defense and armed forces modernization
in the 21st century, the PLA has set up an institutional education system
with Chinese characteristics. In the structural reform in 1999, the PLA's
system of academies and schools underwent a structural reform, canceling,
merging and reconstructing some institutions. As a result, the original
two categories of institutions for training commanding and technical officers
have been replaced by two categories of institutions for training officer
candidates and in-service officers. Five universities have been established
- the universities of national defense science and technology, information
engineering, science and engineering, naval engineering, and air force
engineering. Officer training has shifted to a two-track system-this is
to gradually realize the targets of the military providing such training
while being supported by national education. The training of its postgraduates
is increasing on a yearly basis. The PLA is making an effort to have all
officer candidates receive higher education by 2010. Some officer candidates,
who have received regular (four-year) college education and basic military
training at comprehensive educational institutions, will then receive
professional training at specialized institutions in accordance with their
future posts. New specialties have been brought into being by integrating
highly technical command specialties with relevant specialties, and some
officers will receive integrated command and technical training. Middle-level
commanding officers will receive integrated military and political training.
Commanding and staff officers will receive training in the same institutions,
and medical and political officers throughout the PLA will receive unified
training. Through readjustment and reform, the total number of military
academies and schools has been reduced by about one-third, their structure
has become more comprehensive and their scale has been expanded, and the
training level, quality and benefits have been markedly improved.
Logistics
The PLA regards logistical construction as an important part of the effort
toward comprehensively enhancing combat effectiveness and meeting the
needs of modern warfare. On the principle of combining a peacetime with
a wartime footing, combining the army with the people, overall planning,
emphasis on key points, scientific management, and diligence and thrift,
it strives to provide adequate logistical support for army building, operations
and other activities.
Since the founding of New China, the logistical work of the Chinese armed
forces has been making progress constantly. Logistics for the Army alone
has evolved into combined logistics for all the services and arms. Simple
and backward logistical equipment has evolved into diversified equipment
backed by modern technology and some high technology. Logistical support
capability for military operations in ordinary conditions has evolved
into that under modern, especially high-tech, conditions.
In the 1990s, the logistical work of the Chinese armed forces focused
on meeting the needs of providing logistical support during local wars
in high-tech conditions and strengthening the logistical operational readiness.
Logistical work supporting emergency mobile forces has been quickened.
Logistical support forces for emergency mobile operations has been organized.
And the logistical support capabilities for crisis response have been
enhanced. Investment in war preparation projects has been increased. The
scope, distribution and structure of war material reserves have been properly
adjusted. And by reliance on science and technology, logistical support
has been invigorated, so as to continuously raise the level of the modernization
in logistical support. Marked progress has been made in the research and
development of highly technical and specialized logistical equipment to
provide the armed forces with flexible and effective field facilities
for logistical supply, sustainment support, medical aid and emergency
repair, surface replenishment, air refueling and maneuverability support
for the Second Artillery Force. In January 2000, the Chinese armed forces
started to practice the joint logistics system, which is based on military
area commands by the combination of regional support with organic system
support and the combination of general supply support with special supply
support. Unified general-purpose material supply and service support are
provided by military area commands, and special material supply and service
support are provided by the services and arms through their organic channels.
To keep pace with the development of the socialist market economy and
meet the needs of the armed forces' quality construction, the Chinese
armed forces have carried out a series of reforms in logistical work.
In December 1998, the PLA and the Armed Police Force ceased to engage
in commercial activities. Most of the more than 6,000 enterprises run
by the military were closed down or handed over to local authorities.
In July 1998, in conformity with the requirements of the military insurance
system stipulated in the Na-tional Defense Law of the PRC, the State Council
and the CMC jointly promulgated the Program for the Implementation of
the Military Insurance System. A military insurance system with Chinese
characteristics is gradually taking shape. In addition, the soldiers'
casualty insurance system and the demobilized soldiers' medical insurance
system were implemented in 1998 and 1999, respectively. In recent years,
the Chinese armed forces have endeavored, through continuous explorations,
to realize a socialized service system by contracting out certain logistical
support items, utilizing market resources and streamlining military support
establishments, so as to raise the cost-effectiveness of defense expenditure.
From January 2000, mess management, barracks maintenance and post exchange
service will be gradually contracted out in organizations at or above
the corps level and military academies and hospitals in large- and medium-sized
cities.
Weaponry and Equipment
Consistently placing weaponry construction in a prominent position, the
Chinese armed forces strive to modernize military equipment and enhance
their operational capability for self-defense.
Since 1949 China has adhered to the principle of focussing on self-reliance
while actively drawing on advanced foreign military technology. It has
made great achievements in modernizing its weap-onry, providing a powerful
support for building a modernized army and safeguarding state sovereignty
and security. The basic realization of standardization and serialization
of the Army and general-purpose armaments has enhanced the capabilities
of fire repression, ground assault, battlefield manoeuverability, battlefield
intelligence and reconnaisance, operational command and protection, and
has thus met the demand for combined operations. The Navy has made great
pro-gress in enhancing missile availability, three-dimensional operation
capability and information capability, and it thus has acquired the ca-pability
of offshore defensive operations. The Air Force has acquired an all-weather,
all-aerospace and round-the-clock operational capability of a rather high
level, and is being equipped with certain high-tech weaponry. The Second
Artillery Force has been equipped with short-range, medium-range, long-range
and intercontinental missile systems, and has the capability of rapid
reaction and mobile operations.
To meet the requirements of an evolving socialist market economy and
the restructuring of government organs, the PLA has gradually set up a
new weaponry management system since 1998. Based on the strategy of invigorating
the armed forces by reliance on science and technology, Chinese armed
forces are quickening the pace of new weapon R and D and pushing the development
of their armaments by means of scientific and technological innovations.
They attach importance to giving play to the role of the market mechanism
by encouraging appropriate competition. They are gradually improving their
equipment ordering system, and building and improving the research and
acquisition contracting system. A system featuring across-the-board and
life-cycle management will be gradually practiced, which would raise the
quality and control the life-cycle cost of high-tech weapons, and increase
the overall effectiveness of weaponry construction. In addition, laws
and regulations concerning equipment administration and procedures for
equipment work will be improved that fit in with the new management system
so that the equipment work will be accomplished in an orderly, coordinated
and highly efficient way.
Faced with the world's military developments and the characteristics
of modern warfare, the Chinese armed forces will, in the course of modernizing
their weaponry, devote themselves to transforming semi-mechanized and
mechanized weapon systems to automatized and informationized systems as
soon as possible, so that they can possess weapons as advanced as possible
and assure the accomplishment of the sacred missions assigned to them
by the nation.
Disaster Relief
China is a country vulnerable to natural disasters. To help cope with
floods from big rivers, droughts and storms in some areas, and mud-rock
flows and landslides along railways and highways, the PLA takes an active
part in disaster alleviation projects organized by the local governments.
During the past two years, it has participated in building over 20,000
km flood-prevention dikes, over 30 reservoirs, over 300 km anti-tide dams,
and more than 300 irrigation and drainage pumping stations, including
such comprehensive projects as the Xiaolangdi on the Yellow River, the
Three Gorges on the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River Valley, rainfall
flow concentration in Gansu Province, and sand prevention and control
in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. It has played a positive role in
supporting the national economy and sustainable social development. To
participate in disaster relief work, the general headquarters/departments,
military area commands, provincial military commands and lower-level commands
have all assigned personnel to the national and local rescue and relief
command organs, to coordinate the command relationship between the military
and local governments, formulate rescue and relief measures, establish
disaster situation reporting systems, manage relief assets, and implement
organization and coordination of disaster relief in a flexible, rapid,
efficient and accurate way. The participating units all have their own
rescue plans. Routine rescue rehearsals are conducted to keep boats, planes,
motor vehicles and other disaster relief assets in readiness for immediate
action in case of any disaster. The past two years have witnessed more
than 500,000 PLA officers and men participating in more than 100 rescue
and relief operations. In particular, in the fight against the floods
from the Yangtze, Nenjiang and Songhua rivers in 1998, the PLA contributed
more than 300,000 officers and men, as well as 12,500 motor vehicles,
1,170 boats and ships and over 200 planes, repaired or reinforced dikes
and dams over 10,000 km long, closed breaches and remove dangers at more
than 14,000 places. They also rescued and evacuated more than three million
victims, making outstanding contributions to the protection of the people's
lives and the state property. The PLA, while engaging in disaster relief,
has also taken an active part in post-disaster rehabilitation by raising
donations and helping disaster-stricken people to resume production, rebuild
homes and overcome difficulties. In the past two years, the armed forces
have helped disaster-stricken people to build more than 40,000 houses,
and donated over 26 million items of clothing and quilts and other materials
worth more than RMB 30 million yuan.
|
|