Editing People's Liberation Army (section)

=== Modernization and conflicts ===
{{Further|Korean War|Sino-Indian War|Sino-Soviet border conflict}}

[[File:PLA Enters Peking.jpg|thumb|PLA troops entering Beijing in 1949 during the [[Chinese Civil War]]]]
[[File:Chinese troops leaving Korea.jpg|thumb|Chinese troops gathered on a T-34/85 or a Type 58 medium tank leaving [[North Korea]] in 1958, 5 years after the Korean War ended with an armistice (a ceasefire) in 1953. The banner in the background of the picture bears a slogan (in Chinese) which declares "The Friendship And Unity of the North Korean And Chinese Peoples Are Always Steadfast And Strong!"]]
[[File:China 10th Anniversary Parade in Beijing 01.jpg|thumb|Marshal [[Lin Biao]] surveying the soldiers during the 10th-anniversary military parade in 1959.]]

During the 1950s, the PLA with Soviet assistance began to transform itself from a peasant army into a modern one.<ref>{{citation |url=http://libweb.uoregon.edu/ec/e-asia/read/chicom.pdf |title=Pamphlet number 30-51, Handbook on the Chinese Communist Army |publisher=Department of the Army |date=7 December 1960 |access-date=1 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429013230/http://libweb.uoregon.edu/ec/e-asia/read/chicom.pdf |archive-date=29 April 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Since 1949, China has used nine different military strategies, which the PLA calls "strategic guidelines".  The most important came in 1956, 1980, and 1993.<ref name="M. Taylor Fravel 2019"/> Part of this process was the reorganization that created thirteen military regions in 1955.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

In November 1950, some units of the PLA under the name of the [[People's Volunteer Army]] intervened in the [[Korean War]] as United Nations forces under General [[Douglas MacArthur]] approached the [[Yalu River]].<ref name="Stewart-2015">{{Cite book |last=Stewart |first=Richard |url=https://history.army.mil/brochures/kw-chinter/chinter.htm |title=The Korean War: The Chinese Intervention |date=2015 |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |isbn=978-1-5192-3611-1 |language=en |access-date=12 November 2022 |archive-date=12 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112194350/https://history.army.mil/brochures/kw-chinter/chinter.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Under the weight of this offensive, Chinese forces drove MacArthur's forces out of North Korea and captured [[Seoul]], but were subsequently pushed back south of Pyongyang north of the [[38th parallel north|38th Parallel]].<ref name="Stewart-2015" /> The war also catalyzed the rapid modernization of the PLAAF.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Cliff |first1=Roger |title=The Evolution of Chinese Air Force Doctrine |date=2011 |url= |work=Shaking the Heavens and Splitting the Earth |pages=33–46 |series=Chinese Air Force Employment Concepts in the 21st Century |publisher=[[RAND Corporation]] |isbn=978-0-8330-4932-2 |jstor=10.7249/mg915af.10 |last2=Fei |first2=John |last3=Hagen |first3=Jeff |last4=Hague |first4=Elizabeth |last5=Heginbotham |first5=Eric |last6=Stillion |first6=John}}</ref>

In 1962, the PLA ground force also fought India in the [[Sino-Indian War]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hoffman |first1=Steven A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_bjADwAAQBAJ&q=chinese+army+patrols+ladakh+april+1962&pg=PA103 |title=India and the China Crisis |date=1990 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-30172-6 |location=Berkeley |pages=101–104 |access-date=1 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009120905/https://books.google.com/books?id=_bjADwAAQBAJ&q=chinese%2Barmy%2Bpatrols%2Bladakh%2Bapril%2B1962&pg=PA103 |archive-date=9 October 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Van Tronder |first1=Gerry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JrTNDwAAQBAJ&q=sino-indian+war+patrols+at+Ladakh+april+30+1962&pg=PT12 |title=Sino-Indian War: Border Clash: October–November 1962 |date=2018 |publisher=Pen and Sword Military |isbn=978-1-5267-2838-8 |access-date=1 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625205658/https://books.google.com/books?id=JrTNDwAAQBAJ&q=sino-indian+war+patrols+at+Ladakh+april+30+1962&pg=PT12 |archive-date=25 June 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> In [[Nathu La and Cho La clashes|a series of border clashes in 1967]] with Indian troops, the PLA suffered heavy numerical and tactical losses.<ref name="Chellaney2" /><ref name="Praagh">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TbpU0HngYhoC&pg=PA301 |title=Greater Game: India's Race with Destiny and China |last=Van Praagh |first=David |date=2003 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP |isbn=978-0773525887 |page=301 |language=en |quote=(Indian) ''jawans'' trained and equipped for high-altitude combat used US provided artillery, deployed on higher ground than that of their adversaries, to decisive tactical advantage at Nathu La and Cho La near the Sikkim-Tibet border. |access-date=6 August 2021 |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225173405/https://books.google.com/books?id=TbpU0HngYhoC&pg=PA301 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Hoontrakul">{{citation |first=Ponesak |last=Hoontrakul |chapter=Asia's Evolving Economic Dynamism and Political Pressures |editor1=P. Hoontrakul |editor2=C. Balding |editor3=R. Marwah |title=The Global Rise of Asian Transformation: Trends and Developments in Economic Growth Dynamics |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RrKYBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 |year=2014 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US |isbn=978-1-137-41236-2 |page=37 |quote=Cho La incident (1967) – Victorious: India / Defeated : China |access-date=6 August 2021 |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225173404/https://books.google.com/books?id=RrKYBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA37%20 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Before the [[Cultural Revolution]], military region commanders tended to remain in their posts for long periods. The longest-serving military region commanders were [[Xu Shiyou]] in the [[Nanjing Military Region]] (1954–74), [[Yang Dezhi]] in the [[Jinan Military Region]] (1958–74), [[Chen Xilian]] in the [[Shenyang Military Region]] (1959–73), and [[Han Xianchu]] in the Fuzhou Military Region (1960–74).<ref name="autogenerated436">{{Cite book |last=Li |first=Xiaobing |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmodernc0000lixi |title=A History of the Modern Chinese Army |date=2007 |publisher=[[University Press of Kentucky]] |doi=10.2307/j.ctt2jcq4k |isbn=978-0-8131-2438-4 |jstor=j.ctt2jcq4k}}</ref>

In the early days of the Cultural Revolution, the PLA abandoned the use of the military ranks that it had adopted in 1955.<ref name="upi.com"/>

The establishment of a professional military force equipped with modern weapons and doctrine was the last of the [[Four Modernizations]] announced by Zhou Enlai and supported by [[Deng Xiaoping]].<ref name="Ebrey">{{cite web |author=Ebrey, Patricia Buckley |title=Four Modernizations Era |url=http://depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/graph/9confour.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101007221511/http://depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/graph/9confour.htm |archive-date=October 7, 2010<!-- 22:15:11 --> |access-date=October 20, 2012 |work=A Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization |publisher=University of Washington}}</ref><ref name="ScienceTechnology">{{cite news |author=人民日报 |date=31 January 1963 |script-title=zh:在上海举行的科学技术工作会议上周恩来阐述科学技术现代化的重大意义 |language=zh |trans-title=Science and Technology in Shanghai at the conference on Zhou Enlai explained the significance of modern science and technology |pages=1 |newspaper=People's Daily |publisher=Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party |url=http://rmrbw.net/read.php?tid=302475&fpage=14 |url-status=usurped |access-date=October 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160214201234/http://rmrbw.net/read.php?tid=302475 |archive-date=February 14, 2016}}</ref> In keeping with Deng's mandate to reform, the PLA has demobilized millions of men and women since 1978 and has introduced modern methods in such areas as [[military recruitment|recruitment]] and manpower, [[military strategy|strategy]], and [[military education and training|education and training]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mason |first=David |date=1984 |title=China's Four Modernizations: Blueprint for Development or Prelude to Turmoil? |url= |journal=[[Asian Affairs]] |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=47–70 |doi=10.1080/00927678.1984.10553699 |issn=0092-7678 |jstor=30171968}}</ref> In 1979, the PLA fought [[Vietnam]] over a border skirmish in the [[Sino-Vietnamese War]] where both sides claimed victory.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Vincent |first=Travils |date=9 February 2022 |title=Why Won't Vietnam Teach the History of the Sino-Vietnamese War? |work=[[The Diplomat (magazine)|The Diplomat]] |url=https://thediplomat.com/2022/02/why-wont-vietnam-teach-about-the-sino-vietnamese-war/ |access-date=12 November 2022 |archive-date=18 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218003020/https://thediplomat.com/2022/02/why-wont-vietnam-teach-about-the-sino-vietnamese-war/ |url-status=live }}</ref> However, western analysts agree that Vietnam handily outperformed the PLA.<ref name="autogenerated436"/>

During the [[Sino-Soviet split]], strained relations between China and the Soviet Union resulted in bloody border clashes and mutual backing of each other's adversaries.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fravel |first=M. Taylor |date=2007 |title=Power Shifts and Escalation: Explaining China's Use of Force in Territorial Disputes |journal=[[International Security]] |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=44–83 |doi=10.1162/isec.2008.32.3.44 |issn=0162-2889 |jstor=30130518 |s2cid=57559936}}</ref> China and Afghanistan had neutral relations with each other during the King's rule.<ref name="AfCh1981">''China and Afghanistan'', Gerald Segal, Asian Survey, Vol. 21, No. 11 (Nov., 1981), University of California Press</ref> When the pro-Soviet Afghan Communists seized power in Afghanistan in 1978, relations between China and the Afghan communists quickly turned hostile.<ref name="Hilali-2001" /> The Afghan pro-Soviet communists supported China's enemies in Vietnam and blamed China for supporting Afghan anticommunist militants.<ref name="Hilali-2001">{{Cite journal |last=Hilali |first=A.Z |date=September 2001 |title=China's response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan |journal=[[Central Asian Survey]] |language=en |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=323–351 |doi=10.1080/02634930120095349 |s2cid=143657643 |issn=0263-4937}}</ref> China responded to the [[Soviet–Afghan War|Soviet invasion of Afghanistan]] by supporting the [[Afghan mujahidin]] and ramping up their military presence near Afghanistan in Xinjiang.<ref name="Hilali-2001" /> China acquired military equipment from the United States to defend itself from Soviet attacks.<ref name=":7">{{cite book |author=Starri |first=S. Frederick |author-link=S. Frederick Starr |title=Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland |title-link=Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |year=2004 |isbn=0765613182 |editor= |edition= |pages=157–158}}</ref>

The PLA Ground Force trained and supported the Afghan Mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan War, moving its training camps for the mujahideen from Pakistan into China itself.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Szczudlik-Tatar |first=Justyna |date=October 2014 |title=China's Evolving Stance on Afghanistan: Towards More Robust Diplomacy with "Chinese Characteristics" |url=https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/184324/PISM%20Strategic%20File%20no%2022%20(58).pdf |journal=Strategic File |publisher=Polish Institute of International Affairs |volume=58 |issue=22 |access-date=12 November 2022 |archive-date=29 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829133903/https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/184324/PISM%20Strategic%20File%20no%2022%20(58).pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of anti-aircraft missiles, rocket launchers, and machine guns were given to the Mujahideen by the Chinese.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Galster |first=Steve |date=9 October 2001 |title=Volume II: Afghanistan: Lessons from the Last War |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB57/essay.html |website=National Security Archive, [[George Washington University]] |access-date=12 November 2022 |archive-date=6 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906203727/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB57/essay.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Chinese military advisors and army troops were also present with the Mujahideen during training.<ref name=":7" />