Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the
people's army has gradually grown to include the active and reserve
forces of the People's Liberation Army, Chinese People's Armed
Police Forces and the Militia.
1. The active and reserve forces of the People's Liberation
Army
The People's Liberation Army consists of officers and men in active
service and in reserve. The active forces are made up of the Army,
Navy, Air Force, 2nd Artillery Corps, military schools and national
defense scientific research institutions.
The Army, organized according to different tasks and equipment,
mainly includes the infantry, armored corps, artillery corps,
engineering corps, communication corps, and anti-chemical warfare
corps. In its setup, the Army follows the organizational system of
the squad, platoon, company, battalion, regiment, division
(brigade) and army (group army).
The Navy is organized into fleets, naval bases and marine defense
regions. The People's Navy is made up of the East China Sea Fleet,
the South China Sea Fleet and the North China Sea Fleet. The naval
bases are usually under the command of the fleets and they in turn
consist of marine defense regions and vessel forces. In terms of
equipment and war operational responsibilities, the Navy consists
of the vessel forces, submarine forces, naval air forces, naval
coastal defense forces and the marine forces.
The Air Force is made up of air teams, regiments (air ports and air
stations), divisions, and regional air forces (air armies). In
terms of equipment and war operational responsibilities, the Air
Force mainly consists of air units, anti-aircraft units,
surface-to-air missile units, paratroops and radar units.
The 2nd Artillery Corps, also known as the Strategic Missile Corps,
is an army equipped with surface-to-surface strategic missile
system to carry out tasks of strategic anti-nuclear strikes. It is
under the direct command of the CMC.
Military schools, in accordance with administrative subordination
relationships and specialties of education and scientific research
they undertake, are divided into those under the CMC, headquarters
of different branches of the armed forces, area military commands,
and various services and arms of the military.
National defense scientific research institutions include various
research institutes and scientific research experiment bases which
carry out the study of sciences and technologies for national
defense.
The reserve service of the armed forces was organized in 1983 with
officers and men in the active service as the backbone and those in
the reserve service as the basic elements. It is organized in such
a way as to quickly mobilize and turn into active forces during
war. Its regiments and divisions are listed in the setup of the
armed forces and conferred with designations and flags. In peaceful
time, the reserve service is under provincial military regional
commands while in times of war will be placed under the command of
the designated active service of the military.
2. The Chinese People's Armed Police Force
As
part of the armed forces of the People's Republic of China, the
Armed Police Force was organized according to a decision of the
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China adopted in June
1982. Its headquarters were set up in Beijing in April 1983. The
Armed Police Force is under the dual leadership of the State
Council and the CMC and exercises a combined system of unified
administration and command at different levels. The Armed Police
Force implements the Military Service Law of the People's Republic
of China and the orders and regulations of the People's Liberation
Army. It enjoys the same political status as the People's
Liberation Army. The primary mission of the Armed Police Force is
to safeguard state sovereignty and dignity, maintain social order
and security, guard the Party and government leading organs, key
targets of protection in the country and the safety of people's
life and property.
The Armed Police Force follows a three-level leadership in
organizational setup of branch teams, brigades and headquarters.
Made up mainly of civil defense units, it also includes the units
administered by the public security departments such as the border
units, fire brigades and garrison units as well as units jointly
administered by various departments of the State Council and the
Armed Police Force such as the water and electricity units, traffic
units, gold mine units and forestry units.
3. The Militia
The Militia, a mass force engaged in daily production under the
leadership of the Communist Party of China, is a component part of
the armed forces of the People's Republic of China. Under the
command of the military organs, the Militia undertakes such jobs as
war preparation services, security and defense operation tasks and
assistance in maintaining social order and public security.
(China.org.cn May 20, 2003)