The Reduction of One Million Troops

In the mid-1980s, as international tension eased, Deng Xiaoping drew the conclusion that peace and development were now the driving forces in international relations. This had great significance for China's economic development, and particularly its national defense and military commitments. In line with his instructions to reinforce defense and the military as required by China's national modernization, and to build powerful, modern and regularized armed forces, a series of major reforms were carried out in the army.

In June 1985, Deng announced at an enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission a reduction of the PLA's troop numbers of one million. This involved streamlining the command bodies and the troops, phasing out outdated equipment, merging different army units, and cutting the number of officers to ensure a rational balance of officers and men. From the latter half of 1985 to 1987, the reduction went ahead, involving the command bodies, troops, military colleges and logistics units. By 1990, the PLA force had been streamlined to 3.2 million after a reduction of over 1 million troops. This reshuffle reinforced the armed forces' capacity to protect China's development and modernization in a time of peace. It showcased the confidence of the CPC and the Chinese government, and made a contribution to world peace.

百萬(wàn)大裁軍

進(jìn)入20世紀(jì)80年代中期，基于國(guó)際形勢(shì)趨于緩和的新變化，鄧小平作出了“和平與發(fā)展是當(dāng)代世界的兩大主題”的重要判斷。這對(duì)中國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)建設(shè)，特別是對(duì)國(guó)防和軍隊(duì)建設(shè)具有重大意義。根據(jù)鄧小平提出國(guó)防和軍隊(duì)建設(shè)要服從整個(gè)國(guó)家現(xiàn)代化建設(shè)大局的要求，以及建設(shè)一支強(qiáng)大的現(xiàn)代化、正規(guī)化革命軍隊(duì)的指導(dǎo)方針，軍隊(duì)建設(shè)進(jìn)行了一系列重大改革。

1985年6月，鄧小平在中央軍委擴(kuò)大會(huì)議上宣布，中國(guó)人民解放軍將減少員額100萬(wàn)。此次裁軍的重點(diǎn)是，精簡(jiǎn)機(jī)關(guān)、裁減部隊(duì)、淘汰陳舊設(shè)備、加強(qiáng)部隊(duì)合成、減少軍官數(shù)量、改變軍兵比例不合理狀況。按照中央軍委的決策部署，從1985年下半年開(kāi)始，按照先機(jī)關(guān)，后部隊(duì)、院校和保障單位的順序，人民解放軍自上而下地組織實(shí)施了百萬(wàn)大裁軍。到1987年，中國(guó)人民解放軍順利完成了百萬(wàn)大裁軍的任務(wù)。經(jīng)過(guò)進(jìn)一步裁減，到1990年，全軍員額減少到319.9萬(wàn)人，總共裁軍103.9萬(wàn)人。經(jīng)過(guò)這次大裁軍，軍隊(duì)的編制更加精干，戰(zhàn)斗力進(jìn)一步增強(qiáng)，逐步適應(yīng)了和平時(shí)期建設(shè)和現(xiàn)代化條件下作戰(zhàn)的需要。

百萬(wàn)大裁軍，是中國(guó)共產(chǎn)黨、中國(guó)政府和中國(guó)人民有力量、有信心的表現(xiàn)，是中國(guó)用實(shí)際行動(dòng)為維護(hù)世界和平作出的重要貢獻(xiàn)。