Chinese PLA Shuts Down Regional Military-Run Newspapers

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has shut down several military-run newspapers recently as part of the ongoing reform.

The newspapers were run by China's seven regional commands, respectively headquartered in Shenyang, Beijing, Jinan, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Lanzhou, Global Times reported Tuesday.

President Xi Jinping, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), said in November that the seven regional commands would be regrouped into so-called battle zone commands directly supervised by the CMC. The move is aimed at enhancing the efficiency of the command system and ensuring the absolute leadership of the Communist Party of China over the armed forces.

While the authorities have not announced the exact details of the reform, various reports have indicated that the closure of the newspapers run by the regional commands signals the official end of the commands.

The PLA Daily's Chengdu Military Area Command bureau ran a story on January 7 on its WeChat account, saluting all regional command newspapers.

"For a long time, each military regional command has had a Party organ newspaper. These newspapers have done a great job in promoting the decisions made by regional command Party committees as well as publicizing the highlights of the regional commands," it read.

The Shenyang Military Area Command's newspaper Qianjin Bao (March Daily) quoted Guangming Daily's military channel as saying that its last edition would come out on January 15.

According to a report published in the Southern Weekend, these newspapers were division-level units. Each newspaper's newsroom had about 40 to 50 people, and the editors-in-chief are of mostly at the regimental or vice-divisional rank.

The Southern Weekend reported that an adjustment plan may be released in February, and probably a bigger adjustment of the regional military newspapers will be announced in May or June.

Whereas, the report also quotes various sources saying that the military regional commands will all be transferred to the newly established land forces headquarters. The PLA is expected to set up a special "News and Cultural Center" for military news reports. Whether the new battle zone commands will keep the officers in charge of news reporting in similar roles remains to be seen, the report added.