Central Military Commission

The Central Military Commission (Chinese: 中央军事委员会 pinyin: Zhōngyāng Jūnshì Wěiyuánhuì ) refers to one of two bodies within the People's Republic of China. Unlike most national armies, the People's Liberation Army is not considered as just another ministry. Although China does have a Ministry of National Defense, headed by a Minister of National Defense, it exists solely for liaison with foreign militaries and does not have command authority. One of the few other nations with same structure is Vietnam.

Related Topics:
Chinese - Pinyin - People's Republic of China - People's Liberation Army - Ministry of National Defense - Vietnam

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There is the state CMC and the Party CMC. The state CMC is elected by and theoretically reports to the National People's Congress but is in practice autonomous. The state CMC was created by the Constitution of the People's Republic of China in 1982 and was intended to formalize the role of the military within the state structure. The Party CMC is elected by Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and is subordinate to the Politburo of the Communist Party of China or Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China. Power is wielded through the party military commission, but legitimacy arises from the state CMC. The Party and state Central Military Commissions are in command of the Armed Forces of China, which consist of People's Liberation Army (including the PLA Ground Force, PLA Navy, PLA Air Force), People's Armed Police and militia. In actuality, the party and the state CMC are one identical institution but with two names(Chinese:????????; pinyin:yítào j?gòu li?ngkuài páizi). The members of two CMC only differ because of the difference of the convening times of National Congress of the Communist Party of China and National People's Congress of PRC. For example, some one were elected into Party CMC in the Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China on Nov 2002 but they were entered the state CMC on Mar 2003 when the 10th National People's Congress convened. The convention has been that the CMC consists of uniformed military commanders except for the chairman and First Vice-chairman (if it exists) who are General Secretaries of the Communist Party of China. Another convention is that the military members of the CMC are generally members of neither the Politburo Standing Committee nor the State Council outside of the Ministry of National Defense, although they all tend to be members of the Communist Party of China and are members of the Central Committee. The military members of the CMC are apparently chosen with regular promotion procedures from within the People's Liberation Army.

Related Topics:
National People's Congress - Constitution of the People's Republic of China - Central Committee of the Communist Party of China - Politburo of the Communist Party of China - Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China - People's Liberation Army - PLA Ground Force - PLA Navy - PLA Air Force - People's Armed Police - Militia - Chinese - Pinyin - National Congress of the Communist Party of China - Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China - General Secretaries - Communist Party of China - State Council

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Therefore under any conditions, the armed forces of China are commanded and leaded by General Staff Headquarters, the General Political Department, the General Logistics Department and the General Armaments Department of PLA, which implements the directives of the CMC.

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During periods of political stress such as the Tian'anmen Protests of 1989, this system can act as the usual way. According the Constitution of Communist Party of China, the power is holded by Politburo Standing Committee when Central Committee and Politburo of the Communist Party of China are closed. In 1989, the five members of Politburo Standing Committee are Zhao Ziyang, Li Peng, Qiao Shi, Yao Yilin and Hu Qili. The majority consisting of Li Peng, Qiao Shi and Yao Yilin make the decision of Politburo Standing Committee that supported the Chairman of the CMC Deng Xiaoping. Zhao Ziyang, although as the General Secretary, must obey the majority opinion of Politburo Standing Committee by the Democratic centralism. Thus the CMC with its Chairman Deng Xiaoping kept the theoretic legitimacy to follow the leadership of Politburo Standing Committee theoretically in 1989. During those protests, the President of the People's Republic of China Yang Shangkun was cooperated with Politburo Standing Committee and the Chairman of the CMC Deng Xiaoping.

Related Topics:
Tian'anmen Protests of 1989 - Communist Party of China - Politburo Standing Committee - Central Committee - Politburo - Zhao Ziyang - Li Peng - Qiao Shi - Yao Yilin - Hu Qili - Deng Xiaoping - General Secretary - Democratic centralism - President of the People's Republic of China - Yang Shangkun

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Along with General Secretary and President, the Chairman of the Central Military Commission is one of the most powerful leaders in the Chinese political realm.

Related Topics:
General Secretary - President

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The Chairman of the CMC is often a senior official who has given up his other posts, and the CMC Chairman was held by both Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin after retired from their other posts. In the case of Deng Xiaoping, because of super prestige, he was able to exercise considerable power after this retirement in part from his position as CMC Chairman.

Related Topics:
Deng Xiaoping - Jiang Zemin

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There was speculation that Jiang Zemin would be able to retain some authority after his retirement from the positions of General Secretary and President however this does not appear to be the case. One major factor, which went unnoticed by many analysts, is that in contrast to Deng Xiaoping who always had close relations with the People's Liberation Army, Jiang has no military background. In addition, with the promotion of the fourth generation of Chinese leaders to lead the civilian party, there was also a corresponding promotion of military leaders, and all of the military members of the CMC come from Hu Jintao's generation rather than from Jiang's, and at the time of the leadership transition, there appeared some very sharp editorials from military officers suggesting that the military would have strong objections to Jiang attempting to exercise power behind the scenes. Jiang Zemin retired from his posts as Chairman the party's Central Military Commission in September 2004 to Hu Jintao, and the state's in March 2005, solidifying Hu's position as paramount leader.

Related Topics:
Jiang Zemin - People's Liberation Army - September 2004 - Hu Jintao - March 2005

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