Central Military Commission (China)



The Central Military Commission (CMC) refers to the parallel national defense organizations of the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China: the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China (, a state organ) and the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China (, a party organ).

The command and control of the People's Liberation Army (Chinese armed forces) is exercised in name by the 'State CMC', supervised by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. The State CMC is nominally considered the supreme military policy-making body and its chairman, elected by the National People's Congress, is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. In reality, command and control of the PLA, however, still resides with the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee—the 'Party CMC'.

Both commissions are identical in membership, thus actually forming one identical institution under two different names (called ), in order to fit in both state government and party systems. The Party commission is currently chaired by Chairman Xi Jinping while the state commission is chaired by Hu Jintao who is expected to retire in favor of Xi in early 2013. The 11-man commission issues directives relating to the PLA, including senior appointments, troop deployments and arms spending. Almost all the members are senior generals, but the most important posts have always been held by the party's most senior leaders to ensure absolute loyalty of the armed forces and to ensure the survival of the regime.

The CMC is housed in the Ministry of National Defense compound ("August 1st Building") in western Beijing.

History
The party military committee dates back to October 1925, and while operating under various degrees of authority and responsibility, was consistently named the Central Military Affairs Commission (中共中央军事委员会, Zhōnggòng Zhōngyāng Jūnshì Wěiyuánhuì). Among Western commentators, “Affairs” is frequently dropped from the title. As a commission, it ranks higher in the party hierarchy than departments such as the Organization or United Front Departments. In 1937 it was created the Revolutionary Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee (中共中央革命军事委员会, Zhōnggòng Zhōngyāng Gémìng Jūnshì Wěiyuánhuì) after the Chinese Soviet Republic's armed forces were integrated into the Kuomintang's army for the anti-Japanese war, and it later evolved into the Central Military Commission after the Party's 7th Congress in 1945. In this period, the Committee was always chaired by Mao Zedong.

In the September 1949 reorganization, military leadership was transferred to a government body, the People's Revolutionary Military Commission of the Central People's Government (中央人民政府人民革命军事委员会, Zhōngyāng Rénmínzhèngfǔ Rénmín Gémìngjūnshì Wěiyuánhuì). The final coexistence of two military committees was set in 1954, as the CPC Central Military Commission was re-established, while State military authority rested into a National Defense Commission (国防委员会, Guófáng Wěiyuánhuì) chaired by the President of the People's Republic of China.

As Mao Zedong was also the Chairman of the Communist Party of China and led military affairs as a whole, the CMC's day-to-day work was carried out by its first-ranking vice-chairman, a post which was occupied by Lin Biao until his death in 1971, then by Ye Jianying. As a consequence of the Cultural Revolution, the Party CMC became the sole military overseeing body, and the National Defence Council was abolished in 1975.

Deng Xiaoping's efforts to institutionally separate the Party and the State led to the establishment of today’s State CMC, which was created in 1982 by the Constitution of the People's Republic of China in order to formalize the role of the military within the government structure. Both the National Defense Commission and State CMC have been described as 'consultative' bodies. Contrarily to the National Defense Commission, however, the Party and State CMCs are almost identical in leadership, composition and powers.

The Commission included the post of secretary-general until 1992. This post was held by Yang Shangkun (1945–1954), Huang Kecheng (1954–1959), Luo Ruiqing (1959–1966), Ye Jianying (1966–1977), Luo Ruiqing (1977–1979), Geng Biao (1979–1981), Yang Shangkun (1981–1989), Yang Baibing (1989–1992).

Command structure
Unlike in most countries, the Central Military Commission 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.

The most important chain of command runs from the CMC to the four General Headquarters (General Staff Department, General Political Department, General Logistic Department, General Armament Department) and, in turn, to each of the service branches (ground, navy and air forces) and military regions. In addition, the CMC also has direct control over the Second Artillery Corps (strategic missile force), the National Defense University, and the Academy of Military Science. As stipulated in the 1997 National Defense Law, the CMC also controls the paramilitary People’s Armed Police (PAP), who have the politically sensitive role of guarding key government buildings, including the main leadership compound of Zhongnanhai in Beijing. The CMC shares command authority with the Ministry of Public Security of the State Council.

Although in theory the CMC has the highest military command authority, in reality the ultimate decision making power concerning war, armed forces, and national defense resides with the Communist Party’s Politburo. The CMC is usually chaired by the General Secretary of CPC, who is supported by two to three Vice Chairmen, sometimes, but not currently, including the Minister of National Defense. Members of the CMC normally includes the Directors of the PLA’s Four General Headquarters and the Commander of the Air Force, Navy, and Second Artillery.

Political structure
The armed forces of China are commanded by General Staff Headquarters, the General Political Department, the General Logistics Department and the General Armaments Department of the PLA, which implements the directives of the Central Military Commission. Along with the General Secretary of the Communist Party and President, the Chairman of the Central Military Commission is one of the most powerful leaders in Chinese politics.

The Chairman of the CMC was twice in its history held by a senior official who had given up his other posts, as in the case of Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin. In the case of Deng Xiaoping, because of his prestige, he was able to exercise considerable power after his retirement, in part from his position as CMC Chairman. There was speculation that Jiang Zemin would have been able to retain similar authority after his retirement from the positions of General Secretary and President, but this did not turn out to be so. One major factor is that in contrast to Deng Xiaoping, who always had close relations with the People's Liberation Army, Jiang had 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. All 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 post as Chairman of the party's Central Military Commission in September 2004 to Hu Jintao, and from the state's in March 2005, solidifying Hu's position as paramount leader.

In China's state-party-military tripartite political system, the CMC itself is a decision-making body whose day-to-day affairs are not nearly as transparent as that of the Central Committee or the State Council. As one of China's three main decision making bodies the relative influence of the CMC can vary depending on the time period and the leaders. In the event of war or political crisis, for example, the CMC may well function as a de facto executive for the country's daily affairs.

The Tiananmen Protests of 1989 illustrates how the Central Military Commission functions. CMC Chairman Deng Xiaoping proposed the imposition martial law and the use of armed soldiers to suppress unarmed demonstrations in Beijing.

The Library of Congress says of the two CMCs: "The state Central Military Commission was the state's decision-making body in military affairs and directed and commanded the armed forces. The state Central Military Commission consisted of the chairman, who was commander in chief of the armed forces, an executive vice chairman, two vice chairmen, and four other members. Because the PLA has been under party control since its inception, the leadership of the party over the military did not change with the establishment of the state Central Military Commission. Although parallel leadership blurred the distinction between the two groups, the party Central Military Commission retained its traditional, preeminent position in charge of military affairs."

Election of members
Theoretically, the CCP (party) CMC is elected by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and is subordinate to the Politburo and the Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC). In practice, membership is very closely controlled by the PBSC.

Similarly, the State CMC is nominally elected by the National People's Congress and theoretically reports to the Congress, but is in practice indistinguishable from the CCP CMC. This difference in elections also results in the only difference in membership between the two bodies, as party organs, such as the party congress and the Central Committee assemble at different times than the National People's Congress. For example, some were elected into the party CMC in the Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China in November 2002, but they entered the state CMC in March 2003, when the 10th National People's Congress convened.

The members are generally uniformed military commanders, except for the chairman and first vice-chairman, who have both been drawn from the Politburo in recent years. The military members are generally members of neither the Politburo Standing Committee nor the State Council outside of the Minister of National Defense, although they all tend to be members of the Communist Party and are members of the Central Committee. The military members are apparently chosen with regular promotion procedures from within the PLA.

Membership from 2007 to 2012
According to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, the CMC is composed of the following: the Chairman; the Vice-Chairmen; and Members. The Chairman of the Central Military Commission has overall responsibility for the commission.

As of May 2012 (dates refer to tenure on the CCP MAC), the members of the CMC were as follows:

Chairman:
 * Chairman of the Central Military Commission — Hu Jintao (also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, President of the People's Republic of China) (since September 2004)

Vice Chairmen:
 * Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission — General Guo Boxiong (since November 2002)
 * Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission — General Xu Caihou (since September 2004)
 * Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission — Xi Jinping (also Secretary of the Secretariat of the Communist Party, Vice President of the People's Republic of China) (since October 2010)

Members:
 * Minister of National Defense - General Liang Guanglie (since November 2002)
 * Chief of General Staff of the People's Liberation Army and Commander of the PLA Army — General Chen Bingde (since September 2004)
 * Director of the General Political Department — General Li Jinai (since November 2002)
 * Director of the General Logistics Department — General Liao Xilong (since November 2002)
 * Director of the General Armament Department — General Chang Wanquan (since October 2007)
 * Commander of the PLA Navy — Admiral Wu Shengli (since October 2007)
 * Commander of the PLA Air Force — Air Force General Xu Qiliang (since October 2007)
 * Commander of the Second Artillery Corps — General Jing Zhiyuan (since September 2004)

In October 2012, ahead of the 18th Party Congress, the CMC announced the new heads of its General Departments and of some of the military services:


 * General Zhang Youxia to replace Gen. Chang Wanquan as Director of the General Armament Department
 * General Fang Fenghui to replace Gen. Chen Bingde as Director of the General Staff Department
 * General Ma Xiaotian to replace Gen. Xu Qiliang as Commander of the PLA Air Force
 * General Zhang Yang to replace Gen. Li Jinai as Director of the General Political Department

General Chang Wanquan is expected to be promoted to Vice Chairman of the CMC and Member of the 18th Politburo of the CPC. However, he was appointed to be the Minister of National Defense instead, replacing Gen. Liang Guanglie.

Members as of November 15th, 2012
Following the appointment of the PLA's new leaders in October and November 2012, and after the 18th Party Congress, the makeup of the CMC was as follows:

Chairman: Xi Jinping (also CPC General Secretary and thus paramount leader of China, President of the People's Republic of China)

Vice Chairmen:


 * General Fan Changlong, former commander of the Jinan Military Region
 * Air Force General Xu Qiliang, former commander of the PLA Air Force

Members
 * General Chang Wanquan, Minister of National Defense, former Director of the General Armament Department
 * General Fang Fenghui, Director of the General Staff Department
 * General Zhang Yang, Director of the General Political Department
 * General Zhao Keshi, Director of the General Logistics Department
 * General Zhang Youxia, Director of the General Armament Department
 * Admiral Wu Shengli, Commander of the PLA Navy
 * Air Force General Ma Xiaotian, Commander of the PLA Air Force, former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the PLA
 * General Wei Fenghe, Commander of the Second Artillery Corps

Organization
The exact internal organisation of the CMC is highly secretive. However, it is known that the CMC contains at least five key organs.


 * General Staff Department
 * Legal Affairs Bureau
 * Arms Trading Office
 * Discipline Inspection Commission
 * Audit Bureau

The General Staff Department is the nerve center of the entire Chinese military command and control system, responsible for daily administrative duties of the CMC. The General Office processes all CMC communications and documents, coordinate meetings, and convey orders and directives to other subordinate organs.