The lavish military parade in Beijing's Tiananmen Square yesterday was ostensibly a commemoration of China's role in the defeat of Japan at the end of the second World War seventy years ago. But it was also an opportunity to display China's military might and for President Xi Jinping to assert his "Chinese Dream" of a rejuvenated country regaining its place as one of the world's great powers.
President Xi insisted that China’s military power was “loyally committed to the sacred duty of safeguarding world peace” and, as if to underscore that commitment, announced a reduction of 300,000 soldiers in the People’s Liberation Army.
There may be less to this troop reduction than meets the eye, however, as it is part of a restructuring of China’s armed forces aimed at streamlining and modernising the military with a view to making it a more effective and lethal fighting force. From now on, the navy, air force and strategic missile services, which are currently under the effective control of the ground forces, will have their own command structures.
Most of the manpower cuts will hit non-combat roles in the ground forces and resources will shift towards more high-tech roles in the navy, air force and strategic missile services. The troop cuts will still leave China with the world's largest military, numbering two million, and the second biggest defence budget after the United States.
The changes are an important assertion of Mr Xi's authority over the People's Liberation Army, which enjoys a significant economic and political role in Chinese society. They will weaken the power of regional military commands across the country, further centralising power in the hands of Mr Xi, who is rapidly emerging as the most powerful Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping.
The reforms, along with yesterday’s display of military muscle, will do nothing to reassure China’s neighbours, who are increasingly alarmed by Beijing’s bellicose tone in territorial disputes with its neighbours in the South China Sea, as well as with Japan in the East China Sea.