China’s military plans new system for officers’ ranks
Next phase of PLA reforms will see greater emphasis on rank and a fairer hierarchy, as nation seeks to develop professional officer class
The so-called second step of military reforms will include harmonising officers’ ranks with their place in the hierarchy, state media reported over the weekend, citing PLA researchers and officials from the military’s headquarters.
Developing a professional officer class for the PLA has been high on the reform agenda for President Xi Jinping. But details on the reform had been scarce until last month, when the national legislature suspended the relevant defence laws to facilitate changes to the system for officers.
In an interview published on Sunday by People’s Daily, Cai Shichuan, a researcher with National Defence University, said parallel hierarchies of ranks and job positions had created confusion and unfairness for officers.
According to Cai, a certain rank of officer is often eligible for several different grades of job, leading to cases where a lower-ranking officer is the superior of a higher-ranking one.
“[The new system] will implement one rank for only one job position,” Cai said.
A related report by China Newsweek, affiliated with the official China News Service, said that under the current system, a senior colonel could be a deputy corps commander and become the boss of a major-general who happened to lead a division.