Want china Times
Staff Reporter
September 11, 2015
The People’s Liberation Army may establish a new division for space warfare after cutting its troop numbers by 300,000, said Duowei News, a US-based Chinese political news outlet, citing Japan’s Asahi Shinbum.
The outlet’s sources said the PLA may establish the new division for space warfare, as satellite communication has begun to play an increasingly important role in modern warfare. However, Duowei News said that that this has still not been confirmed, as the establishment of a new division will hike China’s military budget up further and goes against Chinese president Xi Jinping’s calls for a streamlining of the PLA’s structure.
The Chinese military is also likely to increase the number of its troops in its navy, air force and the Second Artillery Corps and reduce the number of its military regions from the current seven to four or five.
Xi Jinping announced military reform measures and a cut to Chinese military forces during the Sept. 3 military parade that marked the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Xi may restructure the Chinese military in line with the structure of the US military, which has a Unified Combatant Command controlling and commanding joint missions across military branches. The PLA’s military regions may also establish their own cross-branch combatant commands. Expanding navy capacity is likely to be one of the priorities in the reform given rising territorial tensions in the East and South China Seas, where several countries are competing for resources.
