"Joint Logistic Support Force and China's Military Logistics in an Era of Reform" by CWP alum Joel Wuthnow
China’s military logistics forces have undergone significant changes during the era of Xi Jinping’s reforms. The central innovation was the creation of a Joint Logistic Support Force in September 2016 that sought to strengthen logistics support to operational commanders by centralizing control and oversight of logistics resources. The PLA services were also expanding their ability to transport and sustain troops and equipment, complemented by a growing role for civilian firms and assets. The COVID-19 pandemic provided an initial test for whether, and how well, a restructured system could work together to meet logistics demands in a dangerous, uncertain and politically fraught operational environment. This chapter considers how the Joint Logistic Support Force and other logistics forces in the PLA have developed in the Xi era, how they were utilized domestically and internationally during the pandemic, and the challenges they continue to face in terms of organization, capacity and human capital, which could ultimately constrain logistics support in wartime. It concludes with a discussion of new demands that will require the logistics system to continue to evolve during and into the post-Xi era.
Organizations, Operations and Challenges ByJoel Wuthnow - BookModernising the People’s Liberation Army
Edition1st Edition - First Published2024 - ImprintRoutledge - Pages23 - eBook ISBN9781003307365
Dr. Joel Wuthnow is a senior research fellow in the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs within the Institute for National Strategic Studies at NDU. His research areas include Chinese foreign and security policy, Chinese military affairs, U.S.-China relations, and strategic developments in East Asia. In addition to his duties in INSS, he also serves as an adjunct professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
His recent books and monographs, all from NDU Press, include Gray Dragons: Assessing China's Senior Military Leadership (2022), Crossing the Strait: China's Military Prepares for War with Taiwan (2022, lead editor), The PLA Beyond Borders: Chinese Military Operations in Regional and Global Context (2021, lead editor), System Overload: Can China's Military Be Distracted in a War over Taiwan? (2020), and Chairman Xi Remakes the PLA: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms (2019, co-editor). His research and commentary has also appeared in outlets such as Asia Policy, Asian Security, China Leadership Monitor, The China Quarterly, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Joint Force Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary China, Journal of Strategic Studies, Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, Naval War College Review, and in edited volumes.
Prior to joining NDU, Dr. Wuthnow was a China analyst at CNA, a postdoctoral fellow in the China and the World Program at Princeton University, and a pre-doctoral fellow at The Brookings Institution. His degrees are from Princeton University (A.B., summa cum laude, in Public and International Affairs), Oxford University (M.Phil. in Modern Chinese Studies), and Columbia University (Ph.D. in Political Science). He is proficient in Mandarin.
Photo Credit: By Original uploader was Nicolau at zh.wikipedia - Originally from zh.wikipedia; description page is/was China Emblem PLA.svg., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2531982
