The PLA is not China’s armed force but CCP’s ETv Bharat 25 Mar 2025
Article Read Time
The PLA is not China’s armed force but CCP’s ETv Bharat 25 Mar 2025
Every nation has an armed force to defend itself from perceived threats, both external and internal. The expenditure to raise, sustain and maintain these forces flows from the national exchequer, paid for by the tax payer. Hence, the armed forces are subservient to elected authority, pay allegiance to the constitution and are there to support and assist its citizens whenever called upon. However, there are exceptions.
In the case of Pakistan, the army possesses a nation, from which its generals prosper while people grow poorer and the country survives on loans from global funding organizations and doles from allies. In autocratic China, the leadership always fears anger flowing from a dissatisfied and unhappy population, whom they have suppressed and denied freedom. It needs a force placed between it and the public to secure its survival. Hence, Xi Jinping and his Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have interposed the PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) and its organs between them and the population.
The PLA is under the CMC (Central Military Commission) headed by Xi Jinping himself. Even the Peoples Armed Police (PAP), its major para-military force, is controlled by Xi, through the CMC. It is only in China that the armed forces are officially termed as ‘an armed wing of the ruling party (CCP)’ rather than as the ‘armed forces of China.’ Such is the political control that in 2014, several senior generals swore loyalty to Xi by vowing to implement his thoughts on defence and military strategy.
Addressing the CMC Political Work Conference in Jun 2024, Xi mentioned, ‘The gun barrels should always be in the hands of those who are loyal and reliable to the party (CCP).’ It is also known that loyalty lessons and Xi’s political thoughts are part of the syllabi for the common soldier. At the end of the day, it just boils down to one thing, the PLA and all its organs are loyal to only the CCP and through it to Xi. The nation is secondary.
Purges within the PLA have been ongoing for the past few years. Senior generals are being removed on charges of corruption. There are rumours that these are also linked to internal struggle for power within the PLA. Over 160 senior military officials, including defence ministers, have been charged with corruption since 2012. Those being promoted in their place are aware that they could be next. Hence, many have begun devoting their attention in displaying loyalty towards the CCP and Xi, rather than on professionalism and training.
A soldiers’ motivation to fight flows from a sense of duty and responsibility towards his nation. It also flows from the respect that the nation bestows on him. The Indian soldier swears allegiance to the nation, which is responsible for caring for his family in case he sacrifices his life for its security. Indian armed forces are not only for ensuring security of the populace but also there when needed to assist. They are first responders during calamities and deployed to restore order only under extreme conditions. Hence, the Indian army remains the nation’s most popular and sought after institution.
The same is not the case in China. The CCP is disinterested in the soldier, almost 66% of whom serve as conscripts. Its only intent is ensuring that threats from the public are eradicated and its rule secure. It has employed the PLA to ruthlessly enforce its policies against its own populace, irrespective of the damage it causes to the standing of the PLA.
The PLA was exploited to ruthlessly crush the Tiananmen square uprising in 1989 resulting in deaths of thousands of young lives, most of whom had gathered for a peaceful protest. It was similarly employed to crush student democracy protests in Hong Kong. It was again made responsible to enforce Xi Jinping’s firm COVID policies during the pandemic. Millions were locked down in brutal conditions without food and water, closely monitored by men with weapons, with orders to shoot those who protested. It was mayhem, but then that is common in China.
The Indian soldier has never backed down as also held his ground despite shortfalls in firepower, ammunition and being overwhelmed by numbers. Even in 1962, against all odds, in almost every post, Indian troops fought to the last man and last round, displaying commitment to the nation and their task. It regained Kargil heights against all odds.
The same can never be mentioned about the PLA. It succeeded in 1962 due to sheer numbers, and has yet to admit its true casualty figures. It suffered defeats in Vietnam, was routed in Nathu La and Cho La by the Indian army in 1967, Sumdorong Chu in 1986 and recently in Yangtze. Whenever India has responded with force, Chinese troops have pulled back.
The Indian public accepts body bags and honours its casualties. Cities came to a standstill and millions attended last rites of those who died in battles of Kargil as also in clashes in Galwan. The nation stood with the soldier.
In China, the fear of losing a single child is unbearable. So fearful is the CCP of its own people that it has still not admitted its true losses in the Galwan clash. They continue to lie, projecting a false image, while arresting bloggers who question its casualty figures. This is Communist China, hiding truth from its own people and fearing that debacles of the PLA would reduce its ability to control its populace.
Hence, while millions rush to join the Indian army, there are no takers for the PLA. Reports from China mention that it fails to attract educated youth, many who join, desert at the first opportunity, while those who remain do so only to exploit their service for future opportunities. There is no concept of ‘Naam, Namak and Nishan’ in the Chinese army. It is every man for himself in the PLA, with its leaders desperate to display unwavering loyalty to Xi and the CCP.
It is for this reason that China avoids contact battles and propagates its policy of ‘subduing the enemy without fighting,’ relying on threats and Grey Zone warfare. It is aware that the Indian soldier is formidable, whom they can never subdue on the battlefield. This is because the Indian army is a national army, not a political one. The PLA, on the other hand, is primarily for ensuring the survival of the CCP and Xi Jinping, not to defend the nation. Such an army is never motivated to fight, forcing the CMC to devise alternate strategies to avoid conflict.
About the Author
Maj Gen Harsha Kakkar
Retired Major General Indian Army