11/05/2008 - In order to meet the requirement of “fighting and winning local wars under conditions of informationisation” set by China’s military planners, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been undergoing an overhaul in its force structure since the late 1990s, replacing its massive infantry and armour formations (divisions and regiments) with smaller combined arms modular forces (brigade and battalions). The aim of the restructure is to build a smaller, but more flexible force capable of dealing with diversified security threats and accomplishing a wider range of tasks in the modern age. The transformation is also part of the PLA’s modernisation effort to simultaneously encompass mechanisation and informationisation (network-centric warfare)...
(By Andy Bunk) 11/05/2008 - Imagine a force of millions of Chinese civilians armed with assault rifles, guided
missiles, artillery, and the ability to possibly use it, all directed by the Chinese Communist government. Such a force exists in China today in the form of the Chinese
militia. Yet there is very little information on such a large well-armed force. For the last
two decades the militia has fallen off the radar in both the Western media and in scholarly
works. In the past two decades, few if any articles have been published on the militia and
fewer still scholarly works have been written about this subject. As a result, the Chinese
militia has become a relatively unknown organization...
