The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has recently created armed forces departments managed by the regime’s People’s Liberation Army at major state-owned enterprises.
The move seeks to promote the militia system, fulfill national defense obligations, and strengthen national defense, Wu Qian, a spokesman for the CCP’s Ministry of National Defense, said at a regular press briefing on Oct. 26 when asked about the purpose of the new departments.
Observers say the move indicates that the CCP is preparing for war as well as domestic oppression of the people amid China’s growing financial turmoil.
2 Purposes
As to why the CCP has reestablished the armed forces departments (AFD) in state-owned enterprises now, Mr. Li said, “One is for the mobilization of all the people to prepare for war, to wage a war and stir up trouble; the other function is to suppress the people.”“The CCP has foreseen the coming debt crisis, including the frequent debt default of mega-companies in finance and real estate, and debt collectors may appear in all sectors of society,” he said. “In order to maintain its stability, the CCP must suppress them. It also wants to use force to annex Taiwan, which needs a large number of reserve soldiers.
“The establishment of the AFDs is for the CCP’s political purposes.”
China’s economy is in crisis, and the government’s fiscal deficit has skyrocketed. The CCP’s official data show that in 2021, urban investment debt rose to 56 trillion yuan ($7.65 trillion). The following year, it jumped to 65 trillion yuan ($8.88 trillion).
“China’s local debts are so high. Coupled with the debt default wave in the real estate sector, everyone can see that social conflicts are likely to break out in regard to this industry,” Mr. Zhang, a public welfare lawyer in mainland China, told The Epoch Times. “Therefore, the armed forces were established [in companies] to maintain stability. And with huge problems in the real estate industry and local debts, whether the cost of maintaining stability can be sustained is a question.”
He said that in addition to suppressing debt collectors, the establishment of AFDs in state-owned enterprises probably seeks to solve the employment problem of demobilized soldiers, “because veterans are also a big problem [for the CCP].”
According to official data, there are about 57 million retired military personnel in China.
In early October, at Shanghai Urban Investment Group’s meeting on establishing an armed forces department at the company, four of the seven leaders sitting on the rostrum during the meeting were military officers.
More than 20 major Chinese state-owned enterprises have established AFDs this year. In August, three state-owned enterprises in Huizhou set up a joint AFD.
In September, several state-owned enterprises in Wuhan set up AFDs, including the Wuhan Agricultural Group. The state-owned dairy producer Mengniu Group in inner Mongolia established an AFD in May.
