From Party-Army to Civil-Military Relations in China

摘要

More than 50 years ago Mao Zedong observed that political power flows out of the barrel of a gun. More importantly, he noted that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) must control the gun. His words remain relevant today. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is central to maintaining the power base of the CCP. The relationship between the military and the communist party, however, has undergone change. Until recently, it was marked by a high degree of interpenetration and could be more correctly called a party-army relationship as opposed to a civilian-military relationship. But what does this change mean for the communist party. Does it maintain a firm grip of power over the army. Where does the allegiance of the PLA lie. By what mechanisms does the army answer to civilian authority and participate in defense policy making. This paper will examine these questions and others that define civilian-military relations in China. It also will look at this relationship during three events in recent history: the Tiananmen crisis in 1989, the divestiture of the PLA from the Chinese economy from 1998-1999, and the EP-3 crisis in April 2001.