PLA’s Southern Theatre Command Army and Eastern Theatre Command Army
1. As I mentioned before, on 31 December 2015, China began a major overhaul of its structure military organizational structure. This included the abolition of the seven previous Military Regions (军区) and the creation of five Theatre Commands.
2. The threat PLA presents by two of the five Theater Commands is not just in their troop numbers but its air and naval support (on top of army logistics enablers and artillery support present in each of these Group Armies in the Theatre Commands).
(a) Singapore’s 3rd Singapore Division and 1st Commando Battalion, completed a 10-day commando exercise (from 27 July to 5 August 2019) that involved 240 personnel from the PLA’s 74th Army Group. PLA Commander Southern Theatre Command Army (STCA), Lieutenant-General Zhang Jian, co-officiated at the 2019 closing ceremony.
(b) The 74th Army Group – based in Huizhou, is less than 100 km north of HK. A retired PLA colonel told HK reporters that if the situation in the city became pressing, a substantial number of troops would quickly cross the border to reinforce the PLA garrison there to restore order.
3. The Southern Air Force Theater commands a number of large units equipped with Su-27s, J-11s and J-10s. Over the years, we have seen pictures of H-6Ks flying over Scarborough Shoal (黄岩岛). A common accompanying statement trumpeted the PLAAF’s ability to conduct long range strikes. Though not confirmed by the reports, the bombers’ identification numbers appear to indicate that it belongs to the 8th Bomber Division, 24th Air Regiment of Leiyang, Hunan.
(a) In an interview, a previous commander, Lieutenant-General Wang Jiaocheng, described the STCA as “guarding the motherland’s Southern gate” and as having “shouldered the important mission of protecting [China’s] interests in the South China Sea.”
(b) The STCA is particularly important in the aftermath of the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) on China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, as it is the PLA’s organizational sub-unit directly responsible for enforcing China’s claims of sovereignty. The PLA Navy’s South Fleet continues to receive a higher proportion of advanced destroyers such as the Type 052D and Type 055.
4. The 72nd Group Army, is one of three active group armies belonging to the Eastern Theatre Command. The army is based at Huzhou, Zhejiang. It has priority status in terms of readiness, and new equipment. It is seen as equally important as 74th Army Group. The 72nd Group Army is composed of:
(a) the 1st Amphibious Mechanized Infantry Division;
(b) an armoured division (supported by divisional artillery) — comprising of armoured brigades that are armed with the Type-99A MBT, Type-04A IFV, and the Type-09 8x8s. The acquisition of these new MBTs, IFVs and 8x8s demonstrated PLA’s commitment to heavy force modernization;
(c) a motorized infantry brigade to provide rear area security for the forward divisions (described in (a) and (b) above);
(d) an engineer regiment; and
(e) an air defense brigade.
