tT--

Armed Forces of the World

ChinaPa',
The People's Liberation Army
-::-:- :^ Ain'y lras formed
The Chinese People s
: -^:-l^ i can irace its ori-
officially in June 1946
gins back to 1 Aug-s: -:2- ,'.-er \'iao Zedong
(l\,4ao Tse-tung) was r 3::l - ::--and of the 1st
Worker'sand Peasar: s =et ---u Eien soitwas 1

October 1949 before :^: l-

-:se tre:oie's Republic
formally took oveT c.^:-: := - :-o China and the
-:
People's Liberation A:- , :--
:^arged from being
a revolutionary force -.: -a-:-ai army.
'
The term People's -?.'.-..'. *:rv tPLA) encom-
passes not only tne C- ^es: 3'-\'but also the air
force and the navy. ,^ ^-*:'13 :erms the army is
by far the largest force. ^a! .g 3n estimated man-
power strength of 3,i60,3i3 :crcared with the alr
force's 490,000 and tne "arv s 362.000. Collectively
the PLA is a defens,ve 'c''ce tsat cannot be ex
pected to make other tnan locai mi itary excursions
for the simple fact that :ts n.lrnerical strength is not
matched by the transport capacity that any large-
scale move would requrre.
The army of the PLA is unlike any other conven-
tional army, for not only does it have a purely milltary
defensive f unction but several others as well. These
functions include acting ds a massive organlzed
labour force that takes part every year in the gather- as purely politically-rno:r 3:el --: 'act :s that main- TheChinese army has longreliedon
ing of harvests and the implementation of major civil land China is now r : s:a:e :' seace it has not overwhelming numbers, but in recentyeats
eng.ineering projects such as rail- and road-building known forcent-'es. 3-::^: -r: :i s attemptrng to Beijing has recogmized thatChina has fallen
behind in weapons technology. After falling out
and the provision of irrigation and canal schemes, modernize and reca ':-: -: ' a-3es o: over 60 years of
with theSovietUnion in 1960, China has had to
often on a massive scale. The PLA acts in a political constant war. ln tr s :-: t-: ^:s a caramount role. develop her ownweapons andnow offers some,
sense also: PLA members are constantly used as a Despite its mass .: s.':-gir n manpower, the like this Type 54- I SP 122-mm howitzer, for export.
method of educating the Chinese masses in current PLA must st lr ce ':3:-:=: as scmewhat lacking in
A combined arms force of T-59 tanks and Tlpe 53l,
politlcal thought, and internally the PLA constantly weapon strero:- .^: -a= n. both armoured and
APCs storm across a river during recent PLA
imparts the Communist party llne to its own mem- logistic. As','. :: -: ::=: l. v a small proportion of exercrses. TheT-|9 is a Chinese copy of theSoviet
bers. Education is another PLAactivity, and itcannot the PLA's s:'s- j:- - '-*:-'ed, and the vast major- T-54 and still equips the bulkof PLA armoured
be overemphasized that the PLA has economic and ^, nr hc .-- . :'-e3 with little more than forces, despite the steady introduction of theT-69.
political functions as well as the normal milltary smali a'-s ",: a-: =::-a: ates this more than the an up-gunned version which China is also
ones. Not all of this extra activity must be regarded PLA r :- ..- * -.'= ,', - .^ s currently doing its best exporting to lraq.

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 IE Pn55
Armed Forces of the World China

to modernize and re-equrp Chinese forces not only Militias. Numericallythe most irnportant is the Com- plies, just as it did in the years before 1945. In pea::
wlth modern weapons but with modern tactrcs. The mon Militia, consisting of all members ol the popula- the PLA relies on the iocal Military Region or D,s-.''::
Chinese have no wish to repeat the dreadf ul casual- tion of milrtary age who are not serving with the for dayto-day supplies of all kinds.
ties they suffered as a result of their 'human wave' armed forces. lt has no military function other than Even allowing for the above, the sheer numbe;'s
attacks ln Korea during the early 1 950s. They also acting as a labour force and as a souTce of recruits, of weapons used by the PLA is rather overwhel--
have no wish to renew the Soviet inf luence that was and is unarmed. Then comes the Basic Militia, ing. Estimates put the nurnbers of armoured \:- -
dominant during the '1950s and f rom which much of which numbers well over 20 million and receives a cles as high as '1 1,450 of all types. These nun ::--
their current armoury and operational philosophy few days of military training each year but it is not tend to conceal that most of them are obso,e--;
oriqinates. At present the PLA is undergoing a leng- normally armed. ln time of war the Basic Militia ex-Soviet designs or Chinese copies of those safi'e
thy period of internal reorganization in which the would be expected to provide logistic assistance to Soviet AFVs. Current types in service include T-54s
former centralized organization of the PLA's main the regular forces and form local-defence units, and their Chinese versions (the Type 59 and Type
combat strength is being passed to the military re- possibly for guerrilla operations. Then comes the 69). Numbers of ex-Soviet T-34s and lS-2s are still
gions. Armed Militia, which is between five and seven used, malnlv for training, China is now making a
The PLA is divrded into the Main Force, the Local million strong. As its'name tmplies, it is armed and all determined effort to produce indigenous AFVs, and
Forces, the Militia and a larqe number of other units members are provided with basic military training. already ln service are Type 62 and Type 63 light
including Border Guards, garrison units and various Some are orqanized into local air-defence units. tanks plus Type 53 APCs. However, large numbers
forms of support troops. These forces are currentlY Away from the purely military functions of the of ex-soviet BR-l52 and BTR-40/50/60 APCs still
organ,zed nlo a ser es of 11 M litary Beg:ons, 27 PLA there are a number of railway and other trans- remain in use.
Military Districts, one independent M litary District port troops who operate the national communica- ln artillery the Chinese have become more self-
and three Garrison Commands, but lt is this struc- tions network even in times of peace. ln a similar sufficient, but most of their gun park still displays
ture that is currently being reorganized, so some fashion there are well over 50 independent engineer weapons of Soviet origin. The largest calibre ln use
alterat ons mignt well emerge in t me. regiments and other units with a military function, on any scale is 152 mm (6 in), and no larger support
The Main Force constitutes the main combat but which normally carry out civil projects. There is weapons are rn servrce other than multiple rocket-
strength of the PLA. lt is deployed in 35 armies (a even a Production and Construction Corps orga- launchers of various sizes. Other artillery include
PLA army may be regarded as an overstrength nized into corps and divisions in their own right. calibres oI 122 mm (4.8 in), 100 mm (3.93 in) and
western corps). each army usually having three divi- These come under PLA control and are among the 85 mm (3.34 in). Anti-tank guns are still used on a
sions (lnfantry), one artillery regiment and support units which organize and carry out factory and other large scale as are vaiious forms of anti-atrcraft gun,
troops. ln addition some armies have added to their production activitres that range from food produc- one estimate places the number of air-def ence gu ns
strength an independent tank regiment, an extra tion to weapons rnanufacture. as high as 15,000. Heavy mortars with calibres of
artillery regiment or an air-defence regiment. An 160 mm and '1 20 mm (6.3 in and 4.12 in) are used to
lndication of the operational imbalance that exists Equipment bolster the artillery, as are well over 4,500 multiple
within the PLA can be seen in the fact that divided By any modern standard, the PLA is seriously artillery rocket-launchers of all calrbres.
among the armles are 1 1B infantry divisions but only under equipped. Only the Main Force divisions have lnfantryweapons are produced in China on a large
13 armoured divisions. any armoured units or heavy arttllery support, and scale. The basic service rif le is the Type 56, a copy of
The Local Forces come under the control of the there rs an overail lack of heavy support weapons. the Soviet f .62-mm (0.3-in) AK-47 assault rif le. The
Military Districts. a Military Drstr ct usually following The overalL shortage of military transport of all kinds rest of the infantry weapon inventory is also Soviet
the boundaries of the local province. The Local is a serious operational restraint and is only partially in origin or design, for the most part, and ranges
Forces are regulars, and although they consist of overcome by a reliance on the personal fitness of from light machine-guns to general-purpose
some 73 divisions for border and internal defence the individual soldier, who is trained to make long- machrne-guns, but of late some local designs of
(plus three garrison divisions) and about '140 inde- distance route marches almost every week. This sub-machine guns and pistols have been issued.
pendent regiments, they have no armoured forma- transport shortage imposes serious logistic prob- lnfantry weapons are the main weapons of the PLA
tions and only llmited light artillery. lems f or the PLA, whlch thus trarns constantly to live and militias, but only the Armed Militia is armed and
To this formal regular strength must be added the off the country and to rely on its enemies for sup- then only with weapons that have been passed as
obsolete by the rest of the PLA. Even so the scale of
issue is such that not every member of the Armed
Militia has a firearm. Many get only grenades, and
they are expected to improvise their own land
mines.

People's Liberation Army order of

battle
Main Force
35 armies each with three infantry divisions, one
artillery regiment and support troops f ormed f rom:
.18
1 infantry divisions
13 armoured divisions
17 field artillery divlsions
16 air-de'ence artillery div:s ons
20 signal and chemicalwarfare regtments
21 independent support regiments
50 independent eng neer regirrents

Local Forces
70 infantry divisions f or local/border def ence
3 garrison divisions
1 40 independent regiments

Other Forces
Public Security Forces
People's Armed Police
Production and Construction Corps

Early model T-59s /acked main armament

stabilization and infr a-red night vision equipment,
but more recent models made good these
deficiencies and somehave been seenwithwhatis
probably a laser rangefinder.