CHINESE ARMY ABOLISHES SYSTEM OF RANKS
On June 1 an order issued by the State Council of China went into effect abolishing insignia indicating the various services, arms and branches, Only a red star will be worn on the collar and a red star on the hat. Ina further order the form of address was modified so as to remove references to rank,
The order, announced May 24, said that ranks were to be abolished. However, the order, reported in the May 25 Hsinhua, emphasizes changes in uniform, stating, among other things, that “the western style of military dress worn by field grade officers and above, and the skirt and blouse style of dress worn by women, shall be abolished,"
An editorial in the Liberation Army Daily May 25 also stated that "our army is a highly centralized and unified fighting collective which possesses strict organizational discipline....The lower levels submit to the higher levels andthe fighters respect the CAdreSeecoe
It would thus seem that what has been abolished is the model imitating the armies of capitalist western Europe and the United
States. A simpler and more pilebian model, mach like that of the Cuban army, has replaced it. —
The Liberation Army Daily states that. “our army had no system
of military ranks during the protracted revolutionary wars of the past. This system came into effect from 1955 onwards, after victory throughout the country. Ten years of practice has proved that it is not in conformity with our army's glorious tradition with close rela tions between the officers and men, between the higher and lower levels and between the army and the people."
No explanation is offered as to why the system of ranks was introduced in 1955, No explanation is offered as to its defects, what was discovered in practice and why it is only now that a change has been made,
It would seem, however, that it was introduced in 1955 in imitation of the Soviet Army where the system of ranks was copied by Stalin from the models of capitalist armies. Perhaps, as in the ™ Soviet Union, the system of ranks fostered the appearance of a hardened military caste seeking undue privileges. -
If the abolition of ranks brings the Chinese army closer.tothe model of the Red Army of the USSR in the days when it was headed by Leon Trotsky, this would be a most significant step. Mao is scarcely likely to go this far, however, in flagrant contradiction of his current campaign for the rehabilitation of Stalin,
In addition, to hold up the model of the Red Army as it was in the days of Trotsky, would imply a further step, which would truly be of colossal significance not only for China but for the revolutionary movement throughout the world -- the election of officers. -
There is no indication that this is contemplated, The hierarchical structure set up by Mao is exceptionally rigid.
What is most likely involved is a concession to widespread sentiment in the ranks against a certain growth of privileges in the armed forces. The concession is to be welcomed. It should help increase the fighting capacity of the army in face of the rising threat from American imperialism.