The Southern Theater Command () is one of the five theater commands of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

, founded on 1 February 2016. Its predecessor was the

Guangzhou Military Region The Guangzhou Military Region was from 1955 to 2016 one of the People's Liberation Army PLA Military Regions, located in the south of the People's Republic of China. In May 1949, the Central China (Hua Zhong) Military Region (MR) was formed. In M ...

. Its jurisdiction includes

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

and the

South Sea Fleet The Southern Theater Command Navy (STCN), or the South Sea Fleet (SSF) until 2018, is a formation of China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and the naval component of the Southern Theater Command. History In December 1949, the Fourth Fi ...

, as well as the Special Administrative Regions of

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

. Its commander is General Wu Yanan and its political commissar is General Wang Wenquan.

Area of responsibility

Southern Theater Command's area of responsibility (AOR) includes

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

(

Mainland Southeast Asia Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

) and the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

. The command's primary missions are maintaining security in the

and likely supporting the

Eastern Theater Command The Eastern Theater Command () is one of the five theater commands of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), founded 1 February 2016. It replaced the Nanjing Military Region. The command is headquartered in Nanjing. Its jurisdiction includes Jia ...

in any major amphibious operation against

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Organizational structure

The Southern Theater Command consists of the following components: *

Southern Theater Command Ground Force Southern Theater Command Ground Force is the Chinese Army, ground force under the Southern Theater Command. Its headquarters is in Nanning, Guangxi. The current commander is and the current political commissar is . History The Southern Theater ...

** 74th Group Army *** 1st Amphibious Combined Arms Brigade *** 125th Amphibious Combined Arms Brigade *** 132rd Light Combined Arms Brigade *** 163rd Light Combined Arms Brigade *** 154th Medium Combined Arms Brigade *** 16th Heavy Combined Arms Brigade *** 74th Special Operations Brigade *** 74th Army Aviation Brigade *** 74th Artillery Brigade *** 74th Air Defense Brigade *** 74th Engineer and Chemical Defense Brigade *** 74th Sustainment Brigade ** 75th Group Army *** 32nd Mountain Combined Arms Brigade *** 37th Light Combined Arms Brigade *** 42nd Light Combined Arms Brigade *** 122nd Medium Combined Arms Brigade *** 31st Heavy Combined Arms Brigade *** 123rd Heavy Combined Arms Brigade *** 121st Air Assault Brigade *** 75th Special Operation Brigade *** 75th Artillery Brigade *** 75th Air Defense Brigade *** 75th Engineer and Chemical Defense Brigade *** 75th Sustainment Brigade * Southern Theater Command Navy (

) ** 2nd Destroyer Detachment ** 9th Destroyer Detachment ** 17th Frigate Detachment ** 18th Frigate Detachment ** 19th Frigate Detachment ** 32nd Submarine Detachment ** 52nd Submarine Detachment ** 6th Landing Ship Detachment ** 3rd Combat Support Ship Detachment ** Danger and Lifesaver Detachment *

Southern Theater Command Air Force The Southern Theater Command Air Force is the air force under the Southern Theater Command. Its headquarters is in Guangzhou, Guangdong. The current commander is and the current political commissar is . History On 1 February 2016, the foundin ...

** 2nd Independent Regiment ** 2nd Fighter Division ** 8th Bomber Division ** 9th Fighter Division ** 13th Transport Division ** 18th Fighter Division ** 42nd Fighter Division

List of leaders

Commanders

Political commissars

References