China Refutes Report It Will Centralize Military Command

China denied on Tuesday a state media report that said its military will establish a joint operational command structure for its forces to improve coordination between different parts of the defense system.

The English-language China Daily newspaper reported last week that the government would implement a joint command system “in due course” and it had already launched pilot programs to that effect.

“With regards to this, the Defence Ministry has clarified that the relevant report is groundless,” the ministry said in a statement on its website.

The People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party, and its sister tabloid, the Global Times, carried the denials on Monday, citing unidentified ministry sources. The ministry posted the People’s Daily report on its website on Tuesday.

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