The major part of China's armed forces, Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), has targeted on building up a defense might capable to handle threats in multidimensional battlefields.

Celebrating the PLA's 82th founding anniversary which falls on August 1, military experts told Xinhua that an ongoing significant reform inside the 2.3-million strong might will take much more attentions to modernization of the navy and air force.

Chinese soldiers perform during a vocal concert marking the 82nd anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, Aug. 1, 2009.(Xinhua/Li Jian)

Among the three PLA's senior officers who were promoted to full generals on July 20, Deputy Chief of General Staff Ma Xiaotian was awarded three-star insignias on shoulder of his original Air Force blue uniform.

The PLA's officers from different services used to change to the Army's green uniforms if they are promoted to positions in the PLA's four headquarters, a symbol of the Army's dominance in the PLA's construction and development.

For example, General Liu Huaqing abandoned his white uniform as the Navy's commander after being promoted to Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) in 1987.

General Ma is just a new symbol that the PLA's officers from navy and air force keep their original uniforms as the effort to pay more attentions to the voices from other services.

In the current China's top military authority, commanders of the PLA's Navy, Air Force and the Second Artillery Corps for the first time become members of the CMC.

"Keeping original uniforms is just a superficial phenomenon," said Prof. Gong Fangbin with the PLA's National Defense University. "Becoming members of the decision-making CMC will greatly increase engagement in the PLA's major deployments by the Navy, Air Force and the Second Artillery which are all forces involving combined operations with high-tech equipment."

"The move also follows an increasing trend of the global military development," Gong said.

As a spectator on the vistor's stand beside the Tiananmen gate tower for the National Day parade in 1984, Gong said the PLA adopted an Army-dominating concept after the foundation of the People's Republic of China because at that time the major security threat the country faced was inland attack.

"When we saw the ballistic missile launcher vehicles for the first time in the parade, we were surprised and even shocked for seldom knew what kind of weapon system it was," Gong said.

"I'm looking forward to witnessing new cutting-edge equipment in the upcoming National Day parade, the PLA should acquire more advanced weapon systems to protect China's growing overseas interests."

Gong's outlook has already been carried out in China's unprecedented naval deployment to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters to escort merchant vessels against piracy since the end of last year.

Officers and soldiers attend flag-raising ceremony on the board of Zhoushan missile frigate in Gulf of Aden, Aug. 1, 2009. The Chinese escort flotilla, two frigates and a supply ship from the Chinese navy, held celebrations on Saturday to mark the 82nd anniversary of the establishment of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). The flotilla is on their escort mission to fend off Somali pirates. (Xinhua/Guo Gang)

With the rapid equipment upgrading steps, the PLA has also started to improve its personnel structure by encouraging more college graduates to join the military forces.

According to a recruitment plan of the PLA this summer, about 120,000 college graduates who finished four-year studies will be enlisted to fulfill their two-year military services at the end of the year.

"The move will significantly change the structure of the PLA's enlisted personnel which used to be consisted of poorly educated farmers at the early days of the country's foundation," Gong said.

"What more important is it will greatly enhance the common citizens' awareness of the responsibility to serve the country as the college education is no longer enjoyed by the few in China," he said.

"The college graduates with the experience of two-year military service also improves the military reserves for the country," Gong added.

The PLA was founded by the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1927 when China was actually scrambled in tangled fights by warlords which taught the CPC leaders that the supreme command of military forces should not be controlled by officers.

After more than 80 years of development, the PLA has maintained its most fundamental character as a military force under absolute control of the Party.

The most famous example of the CPC's control over the PLA is perhaps Chairman Mao Zedong who once said that "our principle is the Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party".

"Although the Party's absolute control over military forces is not just the same as civilian control of the military theory, both the concepts have the same intention to ensure that a nation's military forces should serve the general public rather than some military clique," Gong said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 2, 2009)