Beijing Military Region

The Beijing Military Region was one of seven military regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. From the mid-1980s to 2017, it had administration of all military affairs within Beijing city, Tianjin city, Hebei province, Shanxi province, and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The Region is mainly responsible for defending the People's Republic of China from Mongolia and Russia, and also protects the capital of China, and had the largest number of military personnel of any of the seven regions active from 1985 to 2017. The Region has now been disbanded and superseded by the Central Theater Command and Northern Theater Command.

Beijing Military Region
Beijing Military Region (highlighted)
Simplified Chinese北京军区
Traditional Chinese北京軍區

Both the 63rd and 65th Corps/Group Armies were stationed in the Beijing area after returning from the Korean War and remained in the region ever since, becoming Group Armies after 1985.[1] The 13th Air Force Corps was stationed at Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province from 1971 to 1976.

On 26 October 1988 the 17th Air Division was reorganized into the Beijing MR Training Base (serials 6xx2x).[2]

In reductions announced in September 2003, the 24th Group Army (Hebei), and the 63rd Group Army (Shanxi) were both disbanded. About the same time, the 10th Air Corps, also stationed in the region, was disestablished (PLAAF 2010).

The International Institute for Strategic Studies attributed to the command 300,000 personnel in 2006, consisting of three group armies (the 27th Group Army, 38th Group Army, and the 65th Group Army), two armoured divisions, one mechanised infantry division, five motorised divisions, one artillery division, three armoured, seven motorised infantry, four artillery, a total of five various anti-aircraft brigades, and one anti-tank regiment.[3] The command is also augmented by the PLA Beijing Garrison, which consists of the 1st and 3rd guard divisions (Military Police), and the Beijing Garrison Honor Guard Battalion and Color Guard Company, both of which are charged with public duties. The command is also home to the PLA Navy (PLAN) North Sea Fleet.

The last commander was General Song Puxuan (2014-2016). The political commissar was General Liu Fulian.

History and mission
A memorial at the entrance to a military unit in Beijing's Fengtai District

The Beijing Military Region traces its lineage to the establishment of the Northwest Military Region in May 1948. It was renamed the Beijing Military Region in 1955,[4] when the Inner Mongolia Military Region was downgraded to a district, and was folded into the Beijing Military Region.

The Beijing Military Region is primarily charged with protecting the capital. Because of its location in the capital, the Beijing Military Region was the most important of the seven military regions. Each unit from the Beijing Military Region contributed forces to Beijing for the crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, and these elements remained deployed in Beijing long after using deadly force to remove the demonstrators.[5]

In addition to guarding the capital, the Beijing Military Region is also in charge of training key personnel for leadership positions through the numerous military academies in the region.

Commanders

Structure

The organizational structure as of 2016 was as follows:[7]

  • Leadership
    • Commander
    • Deputy Commanders
    • Regional Chief-of-Staff
    • Political Commissar Fu Tinggui
    • Deputy Political Commissars
    • Political Department Director
  • Headquarters Department
    • HQ Battalion

Direct Troops

PLA Beijing Garrison

Nickname

Organizations affiliated with the Beijing Military Region often used the nickname "comrade" (Chinese: 战友; pinyin: zhànyǒu; lit. 'battle friend'), including the Comrade Performance Troupe (Chinese: 战友文工团) and the Comrade Newspaper (Chinese: 战友报).

References
  1. Michael Swaine, RAND 1992, 75.
  2. "Orbats - Scramble". www.scramble.nl. Retrieved 2017-07-28.
  3. International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance 2006
  4. Li, Gucheng (1995). A Glossary of Political Terms of the People's Republic of China. Chinese University Press. p. 534. ISBN 9789622016156.
  5. GlobalSecurity.org - Beijing Military Region, Beijing Military Area Command
  6. Bo Zhiyue (2009). China's Elite Politics: Governance and Democratization, Volume 17. World Scientific. p. 118. ISBN 978-981-283-672-4.
  7. http://www.giga-hamburg.de/dl/download.php?d=/content/ias/archiv/cds/cds_0805.pdf Archived 2012-03-01 at the Wayback Machine, p. 24.

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