People’s Liberation Army at 98: Security, sovereignty, Global South liberation struggles inspiration

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OPINION

By Benjamin Musanjufu Kavubu 

In the gardens of the Chinese Embassy in Uganda, a huge banner hangs, and beside it, the Chinese and Ugandan flags were, “1927 – 2025, The Chinese People’s Liberation Army”, the banner read on July 25, 2025.

Zhang Lizhong, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of Uganda hosted a reception celebrating the 98^th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and in attendance were members of the Chinese community in Uganda, Uganda’s Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa, the Minister of Defense and Veteran affairs, Jacob Marksons Oboth, Defense attachés from US most notably and Sudan, and scholars from think tanks like development Watch Center.

The PLA is 2 years shy of a century, but for starters form African perspective, the Chinese army has been very pivotal in shaping contemporary history, formed out of a liberation struggle in the Nanchang Uprising, and by then it was commonly known as the Red Army of Chinese Workers and Peasants, is very much similar to African armed liberation struggles.

Many African liberation movements that fought colonial and oppressive regimes later transformed into national militaries. For example, here in Uganda the NRA (National Resistance Army), led by Yoweri Museveni, became the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) after taking power in 1986. Zimbabwe’s ZANLA and ZIPRA, the military wings of ZANU and ZAPU, merged to form the Zimbabwe Defence Forces after independence in 1980.

In South Africa, the uMkhonto we Sizwe (armed wing of the ANC) was integrated into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) after apartheid. Similarly, Eritrea’s EPLF (Eritrean People’s Liberation Front) became the core of the Eritrean Defence Forces after independence in 1993.  The PLA took on imperialism and colonialism in 1931 when the Japanese troops occupied northeast China.

When the Second World War is mentioned today, most emphasis is put on what happened in Europe, but the PLA took on the then Fascist Japanese aggression for 14 years, a period that saw China lose over 30 million lives, both civilians and military. The fall of colonial powers like Japan by 1945 opened the floodgates of independence triumphs across the world thereafter.

There is a lot we can learn from the PLA over the 98 years of its existence. The organisation was formed to fight against injustice and oppression, and when that was attained on their end, the prevailing peace and security have later led to human development that has resulted in the lifting of over 700 million people out of poverty.

China has also gone on to take its place on the global stage in economic might, technological pioneering, on the diplomatic front, military modernisation, and leadership in global infrastructure and trade through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The PLA has, through research, science, and innovation, been able to develop weapons for deterrence, especially in a world that is dominated by power politics and Western hegemony.

The PLA does not do anything that is out of this world, we can see that in many ways in recent history, especially in the post-Cold unipolar world, when our own UPDF was formed. Both the PLA and UPDF for example have contributed to peace keeping missions especially on the African continent, the former is the largest contributor to international peacekeeping in countries like DRC, Mali, South Sudan while the latter has contributed to African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) which is now African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), endeavors that bring the two militaries together.

As the PLA oversees shipping in the Gulf of Eden with its Navy, the UPDF, through ATMIS, ensures no armed group blocks the Strait of Bab El Mandeb front, on the African side which is very vital to global supply chains as key shipping lanes go through the geopolitical chokepoint.

As the UPDF contributes to global security in DRC and South Sudan for regional stability there is only so much potential for mutually beneficial cooperation between the two militaries, and Hon. Jacob Marksons Oboth the Minister of Defense described the possibilities for peace and development between the two sides as “fraternal and bilateral” that is in harmony with China’s push for strategic partnership between the two countries especially at the time when conflicts are threatening the current world order.

The Chinese Defence attaché, in his address, was very realistic by saying “the road to peace is too far and challenging” a sad reality of the world we live in, and we can’t take any shred of absence of war for granted. For Africa to take up its place on the desired global stage there must be stability; the African Free Continental Trade Area (AfCFTA) can’t work if the various peace keeping missions by African initiatives or Chinese are not successful.

What was reached at the FOCAC Ministerial conference in Changsha to have zero export Tariffs for African countries to China can never materialise if places like the Great Lakes region are not yet stable.

For the region to have vibrant economies, to attract foreign investments, universal security is a prerequisite, and that is solely the work of modern, competent forces.

At a time when Uganda’s exports are growing almost two times in the first quarter, with a 93% increase of 2025 against 2024, it’s vital that the country’s sovereignty is guarded just like the PLA has secured the People’s Republic of China for the last 98 years.

For countries like Uganda to refer to the Esuhluwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration of 2005 in demanding for a reform of the United Nations Security Council, they should first set the example of true and tangible security and stability in the great lakes region and the Horn of Africa to make their demands credible just like the People’s Republic of China did after its enormous contribution to global security.

The writer is a research fellow at the Development Watch Centre