CHINA-PLA: PROMOTIONS OF PLA OFFICERS
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Hongkong's South China Morning Post reported (December 15) that Chinese President Xi Jinping had the previous week promoted more than 170 senior military officers as part of an ongoing reform of the
People’s Liberation Army
(PLA). It claimed the promotions were designed to align officer’s ranks with their place in the broader hierarchy. The promotions followed the release on December 8 of a circular aimed at providing clearer procedures for the promotion of officers with the rank of Major General or above across all branches of the armed forces. Retired PLA Lieutenant Colonel Zeng Zhiping, an expert on military law at Soochow University in Jiangsu province, said a lack of checks and balances with regard to the promotion process had led to widespread abuse of the system, with some officers effectively buying their way up the hierarchy. That had created the problem of senior officers lacking experience and, more importantly, the respect of their troops. He added “The new rules are essential for the PLA because it’s impossible to convince any soldier to follow a commander who doesn’t understand modern warfare.”
(Comment: The mass promotion was the biggest ever carried out by
Xi Jinping,
Chairman of the Central Military Commission.)
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