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China's
national defense construction is an important part of its modernization
program. Given the new historical conditions the Chinese army upholds
the absolute leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), implements
the strategic principle of active defense, emphasizes quality in army
building, administrates the armed forces along legal lines, engages in
army building through diligence and thrift, and actively participates
in and supports national economic construction. As a result, it has made
great contributions to the country's security, stability and modernization
drive.
Defense
System
In accordance with
the Constitution, the National Defense Law and other relevant laws, China
has established and improved its national defense system. The state exercises
unified leadership over defense-related activities.
The National People's
Congress (NPC) of the PRC is the highest organ of state power. It decides
on the questions of war and peace, and exercises other defense-related
functions and powers provided for in the Constitution. The Standing Committee
of the NPC is the NPC's permanent body. It decides on the proclamation
of a state of war, decides on general or partial mobilization, and exercises
other defense-related functions and powers provided for in the Constitution.
The president of the state, in accordance with decisions of the NPC and
its Standing Committee, proclaims a state of war, issues mobilization
orders and exercises other defense-related functions and powers provided
for in the Constitution. The State Council directs and administrates national
defense work, and the Central Military Commission (CMC) directs and assumes
unified command of the nation's armed forces.
The Chinese People's
Liberation Army (PLA) is organized in accordance with a system whereby
the General Staff Department, the General Political Department, the General
Logistics Department and the General Armament Department are placed under
the leadership of the CMC. The General Staff Department organizes and
leads the building-up of the nation's armed forces, and organizes and
directs their military operations. The General Political Department administrates
the army's Party work and organizes and conducts its political work. The
General Logistics Department organizes and leads the army's logistics
work. The General Armament Department organizes and leads the army's work
in military equipment.
The armed forces
of the PRC are composed of the PLA, both the active and reserve components,
the Chinese People's Armed Police Force and the militia. The active components
of the PLA comprise the state's standing army, which mainly undertakes
the task of defensive combat, and helps to maintain social order, if necessary,
according to law; reservists undergo military training in peacetime according
to relevant regulations, and help to maintain social order, if necessary,
according to law, and in wartime they shall be incorporated in the forces
in active service in pursuance of the state's mobilization order. The
Chinese People's Armed Police Force undertakes the tasks for maintenance
of security and social order entrusted by the state. The militiamen, under
the command of military organs, perform combat service support and defensive
operations, and help to maintain social order. The PLA, comprised of the
Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Second Artillery Force, is organized
in seven military area commands nationwide.
The state exercises
unified leadership and planned control over defense research and production.
The State Council leads and administrates defense research and production,
as well as defense expenditure and assets. The CMC approves the military
equipment system of the armed forces and military equipment development
plans and programs, leads and administrates defense research and production
in coordination with the State Council, and manages defense outlays and
assets jointly with the State Council. The state practices a state military
supplies order system to guarantee the acquisition of weapons and other
war materials. The state practices a financial allocation system for defense
spending. It decides the size, structure and location of the defense assets
and the adjustment and disposal of these assets in accordance with the
needs of national defense and economic construction.
The State Council
and the CMC jointly lead mobilization preparation and implementation work.
In peacetime the state conducts mobilization preparation and integrates
armed mobilization of the people, mobilization of the national economy,
civil air defense, national defense transportation and other mobilization
preparations into the state's overall development plan and program. It
improves the mobilization system step by step, and establishes a strategic
materials storage system. The state attaches importance to national defense
education and conducts it in line with its plan for economic and social
development.
Military
Legislative Work
China attaches importance
to the building of a military legal system, regarding the improvement
of the work in this regard as a basic approach and important guarantee
for realizing defense modernization and the regularization of the armed
forces. In order to meet the needs of defense and army building in the
new historical period, the state has laid down the principles for administrating
the armed forces along legal lines. It has improved its military legislative
work comprehensively to ensure that China's defense and army building
advance along a legal track and to propel it in that direction.
Since 1982 the military
legislation system has been further fine-tuned as part of the state legislation
system: The NPC and its Standing Committee have formulated laws on defense
and army building; the CMC has formulated military laws and regulations,
or jointly worked out military administrative laws and regulations with
the State Council; all general departments, all services and arms and
all military area commands of the PLA have drawn up military rules and
regulations or jointly worked out military administrative rules and regulations
with the relevant departments of the State Council. The Interim Regulations
on Legislative Procedures of the PLA promulgated by the CMC contains clear-cut
provisions on legislation programming and planning and the drafting, examination,
promulgation and enforcement of laws and regulations, which embody the
standardization and systemization of military legislation.
Over the past ten-odd
years, remarkable achievements have been made in military legislation.
The NPC and its Standing Committee have formulated 12 defense and army-building
laws and legality-related decisions, including the National Defense Law
of the PRC, Military Service Law of the PRC, Military Facilities Protection
Law of the PRC, Civil Air Defense Law of the PRC, Law on the Reserve Officers
of the PRC, the Garrison Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
of the PRC, Military Service Regulations Pertaining to PLA Officers in
Active Service, and Regulations on the Military Ranks of PLA Officers.
The State Council and the CMC have worked out 40-odd military administrative
laws and regulations, such as the Regulations on National Defense Transportation,
Regulations on Conscription Work, Regulations on Militia Work, and Military
Service Regulations Pertaining to PLA Soldiers in Active Service. The
CMC has formulated 70-odd military laws and regulations, including the
Regulations of the PLA Headquarters, Regulations on Political Work in
the PLA, Logistics Regulations of the PLA, Routine Service Regulations
of the PLA, Discipline Regulations of the PLA, and Drill Regulations of
the PLA. The various general departments, services and arms and military
area commands have drawn up 1,000-some items of military rules and regulations.
Now, China has laws to go by basically in the principal aspects of its
defense and army building, as a military legal system with Chinese characteristics
now is initially in place. While adhering to the principle of suiting
military legislation to its national and military conditions, China also
lays stress on bringing it into line with the international military-related
treaties and agreements that China has acceded to, so as to make China's
military laws consistent in content with international legal norms and
practices.
In the sphere of
national defense construction, China has set up and improved its defense
leading system and operating mechanism at both the central and local levels
in accordance with the law, together with basic national defense systems
and institutions, such as those of military service, mobilization, research
and production, assets management and military facilities protection,
as well as those of giving special care to the bereaved families of servicemen.
In the area of army building, the principles defining the nature, tasks
and building of the armed forces have been determined in accordance with
the law, and a series of important systems and institutions are in operation,
such as those of military ranks and insignia, military training, headquarters
work, political work, logistic support, garrison service, and military
discipline-related rewards and penalties, which ensure that national defense
activities and army building can be carried out in an orderly manner,
within a legal framework and along a regulatory line.
In order to guarantee
the unified implementation of the nation's relevant laws and regulations
in the armed forces, the state has established mechanisms of military
law enforcement and military judicature, military legal institutions and
legal service organizations, forming a fairly complete military legal
system in the armed forces. The military-law enforcement system is mainly
formed of relevant leading organs and functional departments at various
levels. Besides, discipline inspection organs and financial auditing organs
have been set up in units at and above the corps level, which carry out
supervision and inspection over law enforcement, and garrison service
organs in garrison units in large and medium-sized cities, which check,
inspect and handle cases of infringements of military discipline by military
personnel as well as cases of violations of relevant rules by military
vehicles. The military judicial system is composed of military courts
and procuratorates established by the state at the three levels of the
PLA, the military area command and the corps, which, together with the
PLA's security departments at various levels, exercise their respective
functions and powers and handle criminal cases involving military personnel
in accordance with the law. The military legal system is composed of the
legal organs or personnel authorized by the Bureau of Legislative Affairs
of the CMC, the various general departments, services and arms and military
areas commands, and are in charge of the legal work of the entire PLA
as well as the various army units. The legal service organizations are
composed of legal advice offices and legal counseling stations of the
army units at various levels, which provide legal advice and services
to help leading military organs at various levels to make decisions as
well as for individual officers and men. By the end of 1997, over 240
legal advice offices with more than 1,360 lawyers had been set up by the
PLA units, in addition to more than 4,250 legal counseling stations with
65,700-some legal consultants at the grassroots level.
China attaches importance
to promoting publicity and education in the law in the armed forces, bringing
it into the orbit of the army's regular education and training. In order
to equip officers and men with knowledge of the law in accordance with
the state's unified plan on publicity and education in the law for all
citizens, the Chinese armed forces carried out two sessions of the Five-Year
Legal Education Program from 1986 to 1995. The Third Five-Year Legal Education
Program started early in 1996.
Defense
Expenditure
China has always
stressed rationally scaled expenditure on defense. The costs of defense
are allocated based on the needs of defense and the country's financial
capacities and the principle of overall balance. Since the introduction
of the policies of reform and opening to the outside world, the Chinese
government has strictly controlled its defense expenditure at a comparatively
low level so that it can concentrate on economic construction.
The Chinese government
has consistently stuck to the principle of strict control, strict management
and strict supervision of defense spending; it has established and perfected
a complete administrative and regulatory system. China's defense budget
and final accounts are examined and approved by the NPC, and the state
and army's auditing organs exercise strict audit and supervision of the
execution of the budget.
China's expenditure
on national defense falls into the following categories: personnel expenses,
mainly including pay, food and clothing of military and non-military personnel;
costs for maintenance of activities, mainly including military training,
construction and maintenance of facilities and running expenses; and costs
for equipment, including research and experimentation, procurement, maintenance,
transportation and storage. In terms of the scope of logistic support,
these expenditures cover not only active service personnel, but also militia
and reserve requirements. In addition, a large amount of spendings are
used to fund activities associated with social welfare, mainly pensions
for some of the retired officers, schools and kindergartens for children
of military personnel, training personnel competent for both military
and civilian services, supporting national economic construction, and
participation in emergency rescues and disaster relief efforts.
Plain living and
hard working is a fine tradition of the Chinese armed forces. China's
military personnel have launched a sequence of mass movements for practicing
economy, such as conducting checkups of warehouses to make better use
of the stored goods and repairing or utilizing old or discarded things.
They have also done everything they can to join in agricultural and sideline
production or engage in business, mainly for the purpose of providing
employment for dependents of military personnel and improving the material
and cultural lives of officers and men in grassroots units.
Since the introduction
of the policies of reform and opening to the outside world the Chinese
government has placed work in national defense in a position subordinate
to and in the service of overall national economic construction and has
made relatively major reductions in defense inputs. From 1979 to 1994
defense spending increased by 6.22 percent annually in absolute terms,
which represented in real terms a negative growth of 1.08 percent compared
to the 7.3 percent annual increase of the general retail price index of
commodities in the same period.
China's annual defense
outlay from 1995 to 1997 came to RMB 63.672, 72.006 and 81.257 billion
yuan, respectively. The annual increase in defense outlay went for the
most part to ensure that the living standards of military personnel keep
up with the nation's social and economic development and with the increase
of the per capita incomes of urban and rural residents, so as to improve
the living conditions of officers and men. Even so, defense spending in
the total state expenditure declined annually in the same period, accounting
for 9.3, 9.1 and 8.8 percent respectively.
The composition of
China's defense expenditure in 1997 (Table 1) was as follows: 29.162 billion
yuan for personnel expenses, accounting for 35.89 percent; 26.536 billion
yuan for maintenance of activities, 32.66 percent; and 25.559 billion
yuan for equipment, 31.45 percent. From the above, we can see that most
of the defense outlay went to the personnel's living costs and maintenance
of normal activities. In addition, more than four billion yuan, or about
5 percent, was spent to fund activities associated with social welfare.
Table 1 Composition of China's Defense Expenditure
in 1997 (unit: billion yuan)
Compared with the defense expenditures
of some other countries, China has a fairly low level of defense spending
(Table 2).
Table 2 Comparison of China's Defense Expenditure
with Those of Some Other Countries in 1997 (unit: US$ billion)
Note: The exchange rate, calculated by China's State Administration
of Exchange Control, was one US dollar=RMB 8.29 yuan in 1997.
Based on the above exchange rate,
China's defense expenditure in 1997 was US$ 9.80 billion, which was 3.67
percent of the USA's, 61.25 percent of Russia's, 27.53 percent of Britain's,
26.7 percent of France's, 22.79 percent of Japan's, and 56.98 percent
of the Republic of Korea's (ROK).
China's defense expenditure is low
in relative terms, as well as in absolute terms. In the past two decades
the percentage of China's defense expenditure in the gross domestic product
(GDP) has declined successively (Table 3). Compared with the USA, Russia,
Britain, France, Japan and the ROK, China has a comparatively low burden
of defense expenditure (Table 4).
Table 3 The Percentage of China's Defense Expenditure
in the GDP in 1978-1997
Table 4 Comparison of the Percentage of China's
Defense Expenditure in the GDP and Total Financial Expenditure with
Those of Some Other Countries in 1997
Notes: 1. Percentages of defense expenditure in total financial
expenditure.
Percentages of defense expenditure in the GDP.
2. The above data are taken from defense, financial or other government
reports announced by said countries.
Reducing Military
Personnel
In September 1997 China solemnly
announced that it would reduce the number of its military personnel by
500,000 within the coming three years on the basis of its disarmament
move in the 1980s, which had cut the number by one million. This important
strategic decision of unilateral disarmament once again fully expressed
China's genuine wish for peace. It was a new effort made by China to further
promote the lowering of the world's armament level, increase mutual trust
and advance the cause of peace for humanity.
Adhering to the defensive policy
for national security, China has always controlled the numbers and size
of its armed forces within the limit allowed by the national strength
and necessary to maintain state security. After the founding of the PRC
in 1949, China undertook two disarmament steps -- one in 1955 and the
other in 1958. In the mid-1980s China's guideline for army building was
strategically shifted from all-time preparedness against a large-scale
war of aggression to peacetime construction, and the size and structure
of the armed forces were adjusted accordingly. In 1985 the government
decided unilaterally to cut its troops by one million men in real terms.
By 1990, the total reduction had reached 1.039 million men. Since 1990
the size of the PLA has further shrunk through successive adjustments.
When the drawdown of 500,000 has been completed the total size of the
PLA will be 2.5 million men.
Different from many other countries,
China includes all its border and coastal defense forces, military service
mobilization organs, administration organs of military-run agricultural
and sideline productions, civil cadres and active service personnel in
the reserve service forces in the overall strength of the PLA.
China's latest disarmament move
will be carried out actively and steadily, and completed within the planned
three years. The reductions in the land, naval and air forces account
for 19 percent, 11.6 percent and 11 percent respectively. While the numbers
of men are being reduced, steps are being taken in tandem to optimize
the structure, adjust the composition and intra-relationship, and enhance
the competence of the armed forces by enhancing their scientific and technological
knowledge, so as to raise the modernization of the Chinese armed forces
to a new level.
Participating in and
Supporting National Construction
Participating in and supporting
the country's construction is an important task entrusted by the Constitution
to the Chinese armed forces, and a reflection of the fundamental purpose
of the people's army -- to serve the people wholeheartedly. Since the
1980s, while fulfilling its education and training tasks, the Chinese
army has taken an active part in and fully supported the nation's economic
construction, and through this it has made significant contributions to
the country's prosperity and development.
-- Turning military facilities over
to the public or converting them to civilian use. While cutting down large
numbers of personnel, the Chinese armed forces have transferred part of
their military facilities to local authorities or opened them to the public
to support the country's construction. Over the past 20 years China's
armed forces have opened 101 airports to the public, and opened or surrendered
29 harbors and docks, more than 300 special railway lines, 90 telecommunications
lines, 1,000-some warehouses and over three million square meters of land
on former military reserves and some barracks facilities.
-- Participating in emergency rescues
and disaster relief work. China has a vast territory, and local natural
disasters are frequent. Whenever a natural disaster occurs, the armed
forces are always in the forefront of efforts to protect the people's
lives and save the state and people's property. Over the past two decades
they have participated in emergency rescues and disaster reliefs on more
than 100,000 occasions. They have mobilized more than 23 million men,
and organized more than one million vehicle trips, and some 15,000 plane
and ship journeys to save more than 10 million people and transport more
than 200 million tons of materials out of perilous conditions.
-- Participating in the construction
of key national and local projects. The armed forces have participated
in the construction of many key national and local projects and undertaken
urgent, difficult and dangerous tasks connected with them. In the past
two decades they have devoted more than 400 million work days and organized
25 million vehicle trips to participate in and support 10,000-odd key
projects, including 150 railway, expressway and underground railway projects,
340 tunnels and culverts, 260 bridges, 4,100 kilometers of highways and
railways, 50 docks, 40 civil and military-civil airports, 500 energy projects,
2,000 water conservancy projects, 20,000 kilometers of optical cable telecommunication
lines and 500 economic and technological development and tourism development
projects.
-- Bringing the superiority of talented
personnel and technology into full play and assisting people with the
use of science and technology. Military academies, scientific research
and medical units, as well as special technological units actively support
national construction by transferring scientific and technological findings
to the civilian sector or by offering it assistance in tackling key technical
problems and personnel training. In the last ten years China's armed forces
have supported more than 1,000 national economic construction projects
with their advanced scientific and technological achievements, solved
urgent and key problems for more than 150 scientific research projects,
transferred 10,000-some scientific and technological findings to the civilian
sector, trained nearly one million scientific and technological personnel,
and helped civilian enterprises complete 900-odd technical transformation
projects which enabled 320 enterprises to get out of the red and become
profitable.
-- Supporting agriculture and assisting
in poverty-relief and development efforts. China is a large agricultural
country, so agriculture has always been the foundation of China's national
economy. In the past decade, to support agricultural development China's
armed forces have dredged more than 500 rivers, built 200,000-odd kilometers
of irrigation channels and dams and dikes, dug more than 1,000 reservoirs,
and reclaimed wasteland and leveled land of over two million hectares,
thus laying a foundation for bumper harvests. Army units stationed in
poverty-stricken areas have made great efforts to assist the local people
to develop production, up to now helping nearly one million people in
23,000 poor areas get rid of poverty and live more comfortable lives.
Especially, they have concentrated on helping the poor in 20 key areas
in the Yimeng and Taihang mountains and other regions, assisting them
to run 3,500-some village and township enterprises. Moreover, they have
carried out 12,000 scientific and technological projects aimed at helping
the poor to get rid of poverty, and offered agro-technique training courses
to some 4.5 million people. Military medical organizations at various
levels and army hospitals have sent medical teams to poor areas on 860
occasions, which have supported more than 8,100 township hospitals with
medical equipment worth upwards of 20 million yuan, and given free training
to more than 20,000 medical personnel.
-- Participating in work for the
public good. In the past decade the PLA has devoted more than 100 million
work days to the repair of bridges and roads, the tidying up and beautifying
of the environment, and the repair and construction of water, gas and
power supply projects. Altogether, it has completed over 100,000 projects
for the public good and planted more than 400 million trees. Besides,
it has contributed 41.5755 million yuan to the ``Hope Project,'' together
with various kinds of goods and materials worth some 11 million yuan,
and helped to build 697 ``Hope'' primary schools, which have enabled more
than 115,000 dropouts to return to school.
-- Training personnel competent
both for military and civilian services. The Chinese armed forces pay
great attention to training qualified personnel for the country's economic
construction. To meet the needs of national economic construction and
the wishes of both officers and men, the Routine Service Regulations of
the PLA stipulate that every Saturday may be reserved for training personnel
competent for both military and civilian services. Saturdays are also
when military personnel are organized to study scientific and cultural
subjects. Since the early 1980s, when the PLA started to organize these
special training courses, through on-the-job training nearly one million
officers have received academic certificates at or above the junior college
level; more than 85 percent of the ordinary soldiers have received in-service
technical training, and nearly half of them have been awarded technician's
certificates of various grades. When they leave active service they have
become or will become an important force promoting the country's economic
construction and the overall progress of Chinese society.
Stationing a Garrison
in Hong Kong
The Chinese government resumed sovereignty
over Hong Kong on July 1, 1997, and stationed a garrison of the PLA in
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to take charge of
its defense affairs. The stationing of the PLA troops in the Region is
an important symbol of the Chinese government's resumption of exercise
of sovereignty over Hong Kong. It is also an important guarantee for the
preservation of state sovereignty and security and the maintenance of
the Region's long-term prosperity and stability.
The PLA troops entered Hong Kong
strictly in accordance with provisions of the law. The Basic Law of the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the PRC, passed at the Third
Session of the Seventh NPC in April, 1990, clearly stipulated that the
Central People's Government shall be responsible for administrating the
defense affairs of the HKSAR. The Garrison Law of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region of the PRC was approved at the 23rd meeting of the
Standing Committee of the Eighth NPC in December 1996, and came into effect
on July 1, 1997. The Garrison Law stipulates that the Hong Kong Garrison
shall not interfere in the local affairs of the HKSAR; that its duties
are to perform routine defense service, administrate military facilities,
handle relevant foreign-related military affairs, and ensure the security
and stability of Hong Kong; that its expenditures shall be borne by the
Central People's Government; and that the garrison troops shall be rotated.
The law contains specific provisions on the duties and rules of discipline
of the garrison personnel, the judicature and other questions, fundamentally
guaranteeing that the Hong Kong Garrison fulfils its defense functions
along legal lines.
The PLA Hong Kong Garrison, composed
of ground, naval and air forces, is under the direction of the Central
Military Commission of the PRC. While performing its defense duties, the
Hong Kong Garrison must abide by both national and HKSAR laws, as well
as the current rules and regulations of the PLA.
After its entry into Hong Kong,
the PLA Hong Kong Garrison abided strictly by the Basic Law and the Garrison
Law, fulfilled its defense duties within legal framework, actively organized
military training, strengthened army-building along regularization lines,
studied Hong Kong's related laws, and acquainted the rank and file with
the social conditions in Hong Kong. According to the Garrison Law, the
Garrison established working contacts with the HKSAR government, and opened
the barracks on the Stonecutters Island and Chek Chu to the public to
promote Hong Kong compatriots' understanding of and trust in the garrison
troops.
It is a long-term task for the PLA
Hong Kong Garrison to fulfil its responsibility for Hong Kong's defense
affairs. The garrison troops will consistently adhere to the principle
of ``one country, two systems,'' strictly abide by the Basic Law and the
Garrison Law, and contribute to the preservation of the long-term prosperity
and stability of Hong Kong.
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