How many military "security" concerns are covered in the "Decision" of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee?

The Chinese government recently released the full text of the "Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reforms and Promoting China-style Modernization", which emphasizes that "the Party must uphold its absolute leadership over the people's army". The number of times the word "security" is mentioned in the draft of the "Decision" has sparked heated public debate.

The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee approved and reviewed the "Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reforms and Promoting Chinese-style Modernization" (hereinafter referred to as the "Decision"). The drafting of the "Decision" was personally led by General Secretary of the CPC Xi Jinping, who served as the head of the document drafting group, "focusing on the deployment of major reform measures for the next five years". The "Decision" has a total of more than 20,000 words, with 15 parts, excluding the introduction and conclusion, divided into three major sections. Among them, the second section includes many aspects such as economy, politics, national security, national defense and the military.

In terms of national defense and military reform, the Decision mentions three items: "improving the leadership and management system of the People's Army", "deepening the reform of the joint combat system" and "deepening cross-military and local reforms". The content of "deepening the reform of the joint combat system" points out that the functions of the Joint Operations Command Center of the Central Military Commission should be improved, the command function in major security areas should be improved, and a coordination and operation mechanism with the central and state organs should be established; the composition of the theater joint combat command center should be optimized, and the joint combat command organization model of the task force should be improved; the construction and use of the network information system should be coordinated; a new type of military structure should be constructed, the development of strategic deterrence should be accelerated, new domain and new quality combat forces should be vigorously developed, and the construction of traditional combat forces should be strengthened in a coordinated manner; and the force composition of the armed police force should be optimized.

Analysis of Joint Operations Command Organization: Normalization of Task Forces

"This time, there are many security issues and they are very broad, not just economic reforms." Senior military commentator and special commentator Qi Leyi pointed out that Xi Jinping currently has all the power in the party, government and military in his hands. The Joint Operations Command Center of the Military Commission has long existed but needs to be further "perfected", which has never happened in the past. Secondly, regarding "perfecting the joint operations command formation model of task forces", the People's Liberation Army has more than 2 million people, and "task forces" are troops formed according to a certain combat environment. For example, the troops participating in the "siege Taiwan military exercise" are task forces.

He said: "The joint combat command formation mode, these troop command formations have become normalized; secondly, now that aircraft carriers and many naval forces have moved out of the first island chain for exercises, this must also be solidified; thirdly, it is the South China Sea."

The Decision mentions “security” 41 times

In the 20,000-word "Decision", "security" alone was mentioned 41 times. Chen Pokong, a political commentator and special commentator of this station, said that the so-called "security" here is definitely not the national security or ethnic security understood by the outside world, but the security of the Communist Party's "one-party dictatorship" system. More precisely, it is the security of the political system with Xi Jinping as the core, that is, the security of Xi Jinping's personal power.

"Talking so much about 'security' does not reflect that China is safe, but that Xi Jinping himself is not confident about his power. The rule of a government headed by Xi's army, where one faction dominates, is also not safe. This not only has nothing to do with this country and its people, but on the contrary is a threat to world security," he said.

The above explanation on the "Decision" made by Xi Jinping, released by Xinhua News Agency on July 21, also mentioned: Especially at present, the world is undergoing a major change that has not been seen in a century, local conflicts and turmoil are frequent, global problems are intensifying, and external suppression and containment are escalating. China's development has entered a period of coexistence of strategic opportunities and risks and challenges, and uncertain and unpredictable factors are increasing. Various "black swan" and "gray rhino" events may occur at any time. To effectively respond to these risks and challenges and win the strategic initiative in the increasingly fierce international competition, it is necessary to further deepen reform in an all-round way.

Is Chinese society in a state of instability?

Chen Pokong explained that the so-called "black swan" and "gray rhino" do not refer to external factors at all, because no matter whether it is the American democratic system, Taiwan's democratic lifestyle or the small countries around the South China Sea, no country will involve China's sovereignty and security.

Chen Pokong: "Xi Jinping's governance is a mess. The economy is declining, people's livelihood is in ruins, civil servants' salaries are cut, people are unemployed, etc. In the past period of time, there have been frequent car crashes and knife slashings, which shows that the whole society is unstable and has fallen into hostility. Dissatisfaction with Xi Jinping and the Communist Party has nothing to do with the international community. It is completely its internal affairs. The one-party dictatorship and one-man dictatorship system have made China a dead end."

The widespread public discontent in China has not formed an anti-Xi force?

Qi Leyi said that Xi Jinping has a very high level of security awareness. In 2017, Xi Jinping mentioned that "the current security situation is becoming more unstable and uncertain, and the possibility of chaos and war at home is increasing." Xi Jinping also believes that the strategic containment pressure on China by Western countries led by the United States has increased, which has also made his security awareness much higher than before.

In addition to external factors, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee was postponed, and former Defense Minister Li Shangfu, former Rocket Force Commander Li Yuchao, and Rocket Force Chief of Staff Sun Jinming were expelled from the party. However, Qi Leyi believes that these people do not pose a threat to Xi Jinping at all.

"Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu are defense ministers, but they do not control the military, nor are they members of the Politburo. Such individuals are not important to him, because Xi Jinping holds military power and has firmly controlled military personnel." Qi Leyi also said: "The people who can really launch a coup are those who control the Central Guard Corps, which arrested the Gang of Four. The military is scattered all over the country, and there is no way to know Xi Jinping's daily schedule."

Qi Leyi believes that there must be many people in China who complain about the CCP’s governance, but most of them are scattered and isolated individuals, and therefore cannot pose a threat to Xi Jinping.