• China’s military leaders may have a shortcoming.
• They have something in comm9oan with their Russian counterparts.
• It may limit their capacity to fight a conflict of a similar nature.

According to a recent study from the US National Defense University, China’s military leaders may have a shortcoming in common with their Russian counterparts in Ukraine that may limit their capacity to fight a conflict of a similar nature.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) lack of cross-training is identified in the report as a potential weakness, but analysts caution against underestimating China’s capabilities and against drawing analogies to Russia.

In the six years leading up to 2021, the research examined the backgrounds of more than 300 of the PLA’s senior leaders from its five services, including the army, navy, air force, rocket force, and strategic support force. It was discovered that leaders in each service were unlikely to have had operational experience in any branch other than the one in which they started their careers.

In other words, PLA troops remain troops, sailors remain sailors, and airmen remain airmen. The research noted a stark contrast to the US military, where cross-training has been a legal necessity since 1986, saying that they rarely step outside of such silos.

According to the 73-page report, this “rigidity… could reduce China’s effectiveness in future conflicts,” particularly in conflicts requiring a high level of joint-service action. It also suggests that PLA forces would encounter the same difficulties as their Russian counterparts in Ukraine, “where the overall cohesion of forces was low.”

External observers have been able to clearly see flaws in the Russian military system ever since the country’s invasion of its neighbour began seven months ago.

Analysts claim that Moscow’s ground forces lacked air support during the recent defeat of Russian forces by a Ukrainian counteroffensive, while earlier in the conflict, logistical issues made it difficult for Russia to resupply its forces because its trucks lacked the right tyres for the terrain and frequently broke down due to poor maintenance.

Joel Wuthnow, the report’s author, asserts that the lack of cross-training among the senior commanders of the PLA may expose them to comparable issues.

According to a study by Wuthnow, a senior research fellow at the university’s Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs, operational commanders in particular infrequently have career-expanding experience in logistics, and vice versa.

“Operational commanders who never had to have a deep understanding of maintenance or logistics may not employ those forces to their full potential, paralleling another Russian disaster in 2022.”

All of the 40 US officers had joint-service experience, compared to 77% of their 31 Chinese counterparts, in a comparison of four-star rank commanders in 2021, such as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs or the head of Indo-Pacific Command in the United States or leaders of the Central Military Commission or theatre commands in China, the report found.

Another significant distinction was also noted: practically all four-star commanders in the US had operational background. Nearly half were “professional political commissars” in China.

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