China's Wen Reasserts Party Control Over Military Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is reasserting the Communist Party's ultimate control over the armed forces at a time of rising defense budgets and sharpening East Asian territorial disputes. Wen's remarks at Monday's opening of the legislature's annual 10-day session aim to quash scattered calls for the 2.3 million-member People's Liberation Army to be placed under government rather than party control. The PLA's main duty is to safeguard party rule and strike back against opponents, as it did against unarmed pro-democracy student protesters in 1989. Wen also reiterated the military's chief tasks, including winning regional conflicts using the latest technology, fighting terrorism, maintaining stability, handling emergencies and providing disaster relief.