China to disband over a quarter of its army corps, sources say | South China Morning Post: China will disband five of the PLA’s 18 army corps, according to military sources, as part of a huge overhaul initiated by President Xi Jinping aimed at turning the world’s biggest army into a more nimble and modern fighting force.
The cuts could affect up to 200,000 troops, but some military personnel might be deployed to other units such as the newly developed rocket force, the navy or the air force, two of the sources said.
The units affected in the cutbacks include the 20th and 27th army corps in the Central Theatre Command, the 14th Army Corps in the Southern Command, the 16th Army Corps in the north and the 47th in the west, one of the sources told the South China Morning Post.
The 16th and 47th corps were the power bases of disgraced former vice-chairmen of the Central Military Commission Xu Caihou and Guo Boxiong.
