|
China Economic Roles of the People's Liberation Army
The PLA played a role in economic development practically from
its inception. Beginning in the late 1930s and early 1940s, when
the party was headquartered in Yan'an, the Red Army raised its own
food. After 1949 the PLA became involved in economic reconstruction
tasks--building railroads and factories, reclaiming wasteland,
digging irrigation canals, establishing state farms, and
participating in disaster relief operations. The PLA accepted its
role as a force in economic construction and devoted segments of
its structure, such as the Engineering Corps, Railway Engineering
Corps, Capital Construction Engineering Corps, Signal Corps, and
Production and Construction Corps, to building up the national
infrastructure. However, PLA regional- and main-force units played
a much smaller role in aiding the civilian economy.
This pattern continued into the 1980s. The PLA remained
self-sufficient in food, participated in selective infrastructure
development projects, and aided in disaster relief. From 1981 to
1985, the PLA contributed 110 million workdays to 44,500
construction projects, including the diversion of river water from
the Luan He to Tianjin, construction of the Shengli oilfield in
Shandong Province and the Huolinhe open-cut coal mine in Shaanxi
Province, expansion of Zhanjiang port in Guangdong Province, and
afforestation work involving the planting of 290 million trees.
The PLA contributed to economic development in two additional
ways. First, in November 1984 the government decided to transfer
some military facilities to civilian control or joint militarycivilian use. These facilities included airfields, ports, docks,
railroads, depots and warehouses, and recreational areas. The
devolution of these facilities to civilian control helped to
alleviate problems that plagued the civilian economy. Second,
beginning in the late 1970s, the PLA operated a large-scale program
of dual-use training, whereby PLA personnel learned skills useful
to the growing economy. Under this program, officers and soldiers
received military training and training in specialized skills, such
as livestock breeding, cultivation, processing, construction,
machine maintenance, repair of domestic appliances, motor vehicle
repair, and driving. In 1986 the PLA trained more than 650,000
soldiers in 25,000 training courses at over 6,000 training centers.
In early 1987 surveys indicated that over 70 percent of demobilized
PLA personnel left the armed forces with skills they could use as
civilians.
Data as of July 1987
|
