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Special section: The People's Liberation Army in the Xi Jinping Era
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has been a key player in Chinese elite politics since 1949. Its relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has evolved from "dual-role elites" to "professional soldiers under the command of the CCP."1However, a series of recent events has encouraged China watchers to re-evaluate relations between the Party and the military in the Xi Jinping[...]era.
This paper argues that the centralization of power in a single civilian individual has set the basic tone of CCP-PLA relations under Xi's administration, although the principle that the Party commands the gun remains unchanged. Several phenomena are indicative of this trend: the new emphasis on the Central Military Commission (CMC) chairman responsibility system (junwei zhuxi fuzezhi[...]), the establishment of new coordination bodies under the direct leadership of the top leader, radical reforms of the military command structure, the promotion of Xi's public image as the commander-in-chief, and large-scale personnel reshuffles during which Xi's trustees are placed in key military posts as his rivals are removed.2Xi has attempted to use these measures to combat the principal-agent problem in CCP-PLA relations that stems from both information asymmetry and the discrepant interests of civilian leaders and the top brass of the PLA.
This paper is divided into four sections. The first section addresses the evolution of the CMC's institutional reorganization after 1978 and the recent emphasis on the CMC chairman responsibility system. The second section discusses Xi's efforts to strengthen his role as commander-in-chief through institution and image building. The third section presents an analysis of Xi's anti-corruption campaign in the Chinese armed forces. The last section of this paper outlines recent military personnel changes at the deputy military region (MR) level (fu dajunqu ji[...]) and above. In the PLA, military grades (junzhi jibie[...]), which are based on an officer's post, are more important than military ranks (junxian[...]).3Accordingly, the analysis of military personnel changes in this paper focuses on officer posts or grades.
The New Emphasis on the CMC Chairman Responsibility System
The CCP CMC, the top decision-making body of the PLA,...