China’s defence chiefs send teams to check up on military training
Inspectors’ mission to ensure methods are up to standard, according to PLA’s mouthpiece
The Central Military Commission (CMC) kicked off a new round of training assessments for the People’s Liberation Army this week, a move military analysts said was to gain an overall view of standards after the military’s recent organisational shake-up.
The CMC, which is chaired by President Xi Jinping, sent the first batch of teams to five theatre commands and other service troops on Tuesday, the miliary mouthpiece PLA Daily reported on Wednesday.
The report said the inspectors were chosen from specialist departments and military training institutes to make sure new methods were up to standard.
The teams are temporary ones and under the Training Management Department, which is one of 15 new organisations all directly under the CMC.
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Zeng Zhiping, a military law expert at the Nanchang Institute of Technology in Jiangxi province, said the assessments seemed to be another move by Xi to further consolidate his personal prestige after the massive overhaul in the army.
“Some military heavyweights – who fear they may get laid off and so are taking a wait-and-see approach – are unwilling to take action and properly train their troops,” Zeng said. “However, military training is the PLA’s core activity and it should be an indispensable daily routine.