China Gives Soldiers Big Buyouts Amid Stability Concerns
Chinese President Xi Jinping is paying soldiers to leave the world’s largest army, and to do so quietly.
Military personnel have been getting generous buyouts to retire early, according to people with knowledge of the matter, a move that shows both the People’s Liberation Army’s importance to the ruling Communist Party and the hurdles facing Xi as he seeks to overhaul it.
Packages include severance payments worth tens of thousands of dollars and promises to keep paying some soldiers as much as 80 percent of their pre-retirement wages, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plan hasn’t been publicly announced.
The buyouts are meant to speed Xi’s push to shed 300,000 troops from the 2.3 million-member military, the centerpiece of China’s biggest shake-up of the PLA since the early days of the Cold War.
They also reduce the risk that demobilized troops end up disgruntled and on the streets, creating a new source of unrest at a time of slowing growth. Authorities have already ordered state-owned enterprises to hire former soldiers, in part to ensure “social harmony and stability.”
“Soldiers have a deterrent and destructive power once they unite to do something together, and they could cause some social stability issues easily,” said Yue Gang, a retired colonel who served in the PLA’s General Staff Department. “Soldiers are less adapted to society because they may not have the skills that the job market wants and not be familiar with workplace culture. And that’s why they need more support from the government.”
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-31/china-said-to-give-soldiers-big-buyouts-amid-stability-concerns
