China’s President Xi Jinping focuses on remaking the country’s military force into something that could challenge even the United States, tilting the balance of power around the globe.
The Wall Street Journal noticed how Xi is focusing more on the revamp of the People's Liberation Army than on other economic issues that have stricken China.
"China's stock market was swooning. Investors were panicking. Yet when Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke that first Monday in January, he didn't address the global angst about the world's second-largest economy," the article written by WSJ contributor Jeremy Page read.
Xi's Plans on the Military Overhaul
Apparently, Xi's plans on overhauling his country's military force had already commenced late last year when he revealed that five strategic zones will be established in replacement of the regional commands and that the Central Military Commission (CMC) would be granted authority over the PLA.
The Global Times reported in Nov. 2015 how President Xi Jinping outlined his plans to develop a modern military system that is "capable of winning information-age warfare."
According to him, a structure that would allow the CMC to control the PLA would restructure the military regions in China, including Beijing, Nanjing, Jinan, Shenyang, Chengdu, Lanzhou and Guangzhou.
These regions will be focusing more on engagement as the PLA navy, army, and air force will concentrate on developing their forces.
In Dec. 2015, PLA's General Logistics Department political commissar General Liu Yuan bid farewell to his staff via a letter which explained that he would be "the last political commissar of Logistics."
He also declared that he would do everything in his power to support the changes being made in China's military force as directed by President Xi Jinping.
Five Strategic Zones
Covered in a report by the South China Morning Post, the letter was posted over the social media by retired PLA major general Luo Yuan.
The letter indicated that by the authority given to the CMC, three out of four military headquarters including the General Logistics, General Political Department, and General Armaments would be abolished, leaving the General Staff Department as the only remaining division.
The letter also covered the proposed five strategic zones that will cover majority of the country, with the North zone focusing more on the Russian Far East, Mongolia and the Korean Peninsula.
The West zone, which can be considered the largest of the five, is housed in an area where only 22 percent of the nation's population reside but requires more military presence due to its current "extremists" situation.
"The West combat zone will concentrate on threats in Xinjiang and Tibet and other minority areas, close to Afghanistan and other states that are home to training bases for separatists, terrorists and extremists," a source told the SCMP.