習国家主席領導軍隊改革

Last month the NHK News on-line reported the following:

中国 習国家主席が軍改革のトップに

3月15日 23時20分

中国共産党の中央軍事委員会が軍の機構改革を進めるための指導グループを新たに設置し、トップに習近平国家主席が就任したことが明らかになり、「海洋強国」の目標の実現に向けて、従来の陸軍主体から海軍や空軍などと合わせた統合運用体制への移行を急ぐものとみられます。

中国国営の新華社通信は「中央軍事委員会の国防と軍隊の改革深化のための指導グループがきょう午前、初会合を開き、習近平国家主席が重要講話を行った」と伝えました。
この中で、習主席は「戦いに勝てる軍隊にする。軍事闘争の準備をあくまでも１番とせよ」と指示するとともに、「組織形態の近代化なくして国防と軍隊の近代化はない」と述べたということです。
共産党は去年１１月に開いた重要会議で、軍の機構改革を行う方針を決定し、統合的な作戦指揮体制の整備や非戦闘部門の人員削減など、多くの具体的な課題を挙げていました。
習主席がみずからをトップとする指導グループを新たに設置したことは、目標とする「海洋強国」の実現に向けた改革に強い意志を示したといえ、従来の陸軍主体から海軍や空軍などと合わせた統合運用体制への移行を急ぎ、高性能の装備により多くの予算を投じていくとみられます。

(試譯文)

The Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party had newly installed a guiding group to advance the reorganization of the army and it became clear that the PRC President Xi Jinping was inaugurated into the top post; it was expected that from the tradition of putting the army the core, it hurried towards realizing the goal of becoming a "sea strong country" by shifting into a joint-operation organization by integrating the army with the navy and the air force etc.

The Chinese government managed the Xinhua News Agency said that "the Central Military Commission’s guiding group, which aims at the reform and enhancement of the national defense and the army, held its first meeting today in the morning, and PRC President Xi Jinping had given an important lecture".

In the meeting, President Xi Jinping directed “to make an army that can win a battle, to be well prepared for the military operation"; he also said that "if there is no modernization in the form of organization, there is no modernization of the national defense and the army".

The Communist Party in a major meeting held in November last year had decided a plan to reorganize the army: to integrate the operational command organization and to reduce personnel in the non-battling sections etc., many other concrete subjects were also mentioned.

President Xi Jinping put himself at the top of this newly installed guidance group, showing the will to reform towards the realization of the goal of becoming a "sea strong country". There was a hurried shifting, from the conventional organization of putting army at the center towards putting in a joint-operation organization by linking it with the navy and air force etc.; it was expected that more budget would go to the highly efficient equipment.

   Obviously, the focus of the Chinese army is shifting in view of the changing international political environments.