PLA overhaul could ‘destabilise’ Chinese society: Military officials fire warning shots over pay and pensions
Article in PLA mouthpiece warns of risks with restructuring plans, but is later deleted from its website
Two People’s Liberation Army officials at the mainland’s top military academy have warned Beijing it could destabilise the armed services and society if it goes ahead with plans to restructure and slash the size of the country’s military without addressing salaries and pensions.
“The reform will surely involve structural and personnel adjustments and touch on the interests of numerous fellow soldiers,” Sun Kejia and Han Xiao said in an article published on Thursday in the People’s Liberation Army’s mouthpiece, the PLA Daily.
Reform needed support from the country and society, but if it was not handled properly it could threaten not only the stability of the military but also society, they said.
Sun and Han are researchers at the PLA National Defence University’s department of strategic education and research. Sun is deputy director of its military ideology and history office.
Many nations had failed to carry out military reforms successfully because they had not properly budgeted for staff pensions and salaries, they said. Sun and Han added that reform of the US armed forces in the 1970s had gone smoothly because military pensions and salaries had improved.
The open expression of their concerns is unusual.