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Contrary to the predictions of outsiders, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime did not collapse after the turmoil of the Tiananmen Incident in 1989, but remains steadfastly in place to this day. Many observers have attempted to explain why this may be the case. In particular, Andrew J. Nathan argues that the Chinese political system possesses a strong degree of adaptation and can thus be classified as a resilient authoritarian regime.1There are many facets to the regime's resilience, but this article will consider the specific factors of cadre training and the consolidation of the regime's autonomy over personnel recruitment.2These factors afford the CCP the opportunity to ensure that its ability to govern remains persistently strong, thereby boosting the Party's resilience and adaptability. Academics have already put forward various ideas concerning the CCP's monopolistic personnel management systems.3This article will focus on a largely overlooked aspect - the CCP's reserve cadre (houbei ganbu[...]) system - in order to investigate precisely how this mechanism nurtures the new talents needed by the CCP and helps to sustain and perpetuate the resilient authoritarian regime.
Outside of the CCP, understanding of the reserve cadre system is minimal.4In fact, a CCP civil servant revealed that even within the Party reserve cadres are considered at once a very familiar and yet inscrutable concept. Very little has been revealed about their selection and training procedure.5However, this does not detract from the significance of the mechanism. Theoretically speaking, Soviet systems lack the scope for smooth power transitions,6but the robust reserve cadre system allows for a more orderly manner in which to transfer power. To a certain extent, the Mao-era emphasis on the concept of "revolutionary successors" (geming jieban ren[...]) can be seen as the predecessor to the reserve cadre system. However, that concept came to an end following the launch of the Cultural Revolution.
Since 1978, the CCP has gradually built up a comprehensive reserve cadre system on the premise that, "in general, Party and government leaders should be selected from the ranks of the reserve cadres."7Many of the political "stars" within the CCP, including Tianjin Party secretary, Sun Chunlan[...],...