Beijing: Modernization is at the core of the CCP’s mission to change China, and the world beyond. But while Xi has provided the armed forces with cutting-edge weaponry, key signs point to his lack of confidence so far in the process of modernizing its top personnel. The world was riveted on 3 September by Beijing’s parade of 12,000 troops from the Chinese armed forces, especially by their latest-tech kit on display.
According to EMM, this is a manifestly modern-looking army. But that’s not good enough for China’s communist party chiefs, for whom true modernization requires unquestioning and instant responsiveness to party aims and orders. The party’s army naturally figures centrally in this mission, especially insofar as it means becoming capable of seizing and holding down Taiwan.
Such modernization is not only about weaponry. It is about party control. But while Xi has provided the armed forces with cutting-edge weaponry, key signs point to his lack of confidence so far in the process of modernizing its top personnel. If the armed forces were to become bogged down or even fail in an epic task such as taking Taiwan, many Chinese people might respond—this being the party’s army—by questioning the continuing authority of the communist hierarchy to which they have deferred for 76 years.
The military still lacks Xi’s personal trust, despite his public statements proclaiming that the army has always been a heroic army that the party and the people can fully trust. He subjects it to constant organizational and personnel churn. The purging appears relentless, even including generals who have ascended to the Central Military Commission, and who have owed their rise to Xi and appeared fully loyal to him personally. This marks the armed forces’ greatest point of vulnerability, raising questions about whether it can win sufficient trust to be deployed in major combat beyond the skirmishing in which it has been engaged in recent times.
