Relationship between Military Commanders and Political Commissars in the Modern Chinese Military and Its Effect on Military Efficiency

Abstract

A. Communist China's armed forces (known collectively as the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) have been drawn deeply into the political turmoil that has afflicted China for the past two and a half years. The paper discusses the relationship between military commanders and political commissars in the modern Chinese military and its effect on military efficiency. Also, we have studied the topic of Chinese military with in-depth analysis to understand the area of study.

Table of Contents

Abstractii

Introduction1

Discussion1

The Peoples Liberation Army's Political and Government Role1

Consequences for the Military Establishment3

The Chinese Communist Army5

Military Efficiency6

Air Defense and Air Forces6

Political Commissar System8

Civilization10

Force Structure14

Public Attitude toward the Military16

External Threat17

High Threat in the Joint Defense Stage18

Democratization20

Conclusion21

End Notes22

Relationship between Military Commanders and Political Commissars in the Modern Chinese Military and Its Effect on Military Efficiency

Introduction

The topic of military commanders - political commissars' relations in China has generated a few scholarly works over the years. Of the works that have appeared in the past two decades explaining China's civilian control, three approaches can be discerned. The first approach builds comparison on democracy and points out the significance of party-army relations, external threat, skilled leaders, and democratic institutions. The second approach focuses on military organization, but confined within the political warfare system.

The paper discusses about the relationship between military commanders and political commissars in the modern Chinese military and its effect on military efficiency. Also, we will be discussing the era of communism and democratic society to understand the area of study with in-depth analysis.

Discussion

The Peoples Liberation Army's Political and Government Role

During the past year or two the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) has emerged as the only remaining cohesive force in China with a nationwide system of command and control. As the authority of the party and the government bureaucracy declined under the Cultural Revolution, the PLA was drawn into the maintenance of order and stability. In the process it acquired a wide variety of administrative and control functions in the economy and the government. It has largely supplanted police and public security units in many areas. It supervises much of China's transportation network and functions as overseer in major industrial plants. Also, it has been assigned new tasks in carrying out propaganda in schools, factories, and rural communes.

The PLA has also become heavily involved in politics. Military control commissions were set up in the provinces to take over the party's central functions when the Cultural Revolution all but dismantled the party apparatus. Subsequently, revolutionary committees, the organizations around which Peking is seeking to build a new power structure, began gradually to replace the military commissions. In theory, the revolutionary committees are "three-way alliances" of the "revolutionary masses," the more revolutionary of the old party cadres, and the PLA. In practice, military officers dominate most of these new organizations.

The military's dominance has been especially pronounced in committees established since the fall of ...