PLA to take complete, direct control over China's land borders. PLA will replace China's frontier defence police force. Reform plan to demobilise border police from the Armed Police Forces

by Ananth Krishnan

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) will take complete and direct control over managing China's land borders including with India, after Beijing announced a sweeping reform that will 'demobilise' its frontier defence police force.

A wide-ranging reform of Party and State institutions was unveiled late on Wednesday, a day after the annual National People's Congress or parliament session closed.

Many of the reforms are aimed at strengthening the direct control of Communist Party institutions, which had in recent years ceded authority to State or government institutions to implement policies. Under Xi Jinping, the CPC has however sought to more centralise its control, from foreign policy to national security, and bridge the divide between Party and State.

The reform plan said it would "demobilise the border police from the Armed Police Forces" along with other units of the People's Armed Police Force (PAPF) such as fire brigades.

The reform will also strengthen Party control over foreign policy, with the party's Central Leading Group on foreign affairs, the highest policy making body, now upgraded to a full Commission. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in China is tasked with executing the Party's policies, and it will now take its mandate from the newly set up Commission on Foreign Affairs that will be headed by Xi and likely include Politburo member and top diplomat Yang Jiechi.

On the military side, the PLA was always the first line of defence but the PAPF also guarded border points and ports of entry. Now, these units will be transferred to local administrations, but their function remains unclear.

Until this year, the PAPF didn't report to the PLA but to the Ministry of Public Security of the State which led to problems in the chain of command, but since December it has come under the PLA's Central Military Commission.

Now, the reform plans says the frontier units will be "demobilised", giving the PLA full and complete control over managing borders.

The withdrawal of armed police force units engaged in civilian affairs would "disentangle the previous complicated chain of command", Chinese military analysts told State media.

"Troops that were formerly part of the armed police and managed by institutes of the State Council have now officially withdrawn from this system in a bid to fully implement the Party's absolute leadership over the People's Liberation Army, and other national armed forces," the PLA was quoted as saying, adding that the armed police force units "are now withdrawn from armed police registration and placed under the management of local administrations including public security and emergency response regulators."