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Dragon’s Teeth and Dragon’s Brain continues....
The huge numbers of manpower which has been reduced from the PLA has gone into the revamping and augmenting of China’s single, large, internal security entity, the People’s Armed Police (PAP). In 1985 fourteen Army divisions of the PLA were converted into the PAP.
The uniformed and well-armed Chinese troops seen world-wide on TV news, putting down the Tibetan protests that broke out in Lhasa on 10th March 2008, were those of the PAP. The PLA stood ready in the background, out of sight, but were not used. This PAP is controlled by a different command channel from that of the PAP, but of course there is local cooperation, if and when needed.
This has allowed a much greater degree of professionalization in the PLA, which has been freed of such responsibility. Also, the two separate command and communication channels has improved operational efficiency for the PLA, because, in spite of the coordination at all levels, the two entities report to and are commanded by two entirely different senior bodies.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was all through its early years synonymous with the Red Army or PLA. The Red Army or PLA was the entirety of the Communist Party. The Party was none other than the PLA. This has meant that the PLA has always been, and continues to be, the army of the CCP, rather than an army of the Chinese government.
The PLA officially and legally owes its loyalty to the Communist Party, to the Chinese people, and to socialism, in that
order. The most important of these allegiances is clearly to the CCP, as
the Tienanmen Square massacre of 4th June 1989 demonstrated. There
arises here a fundamental contradiction in ideology in instances such as
these: the PLA is ‘a people’s army’, but one which is commanded by the
party, even if that means going against the people when ordered to act.
To be continued......