- Source: Central Military Commission (China)
The Central Military Commission (CMC) is the highest military leadership body of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC), which heads the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the People's Armed Police (PAP), and the Militia of China.
There are technically two separate commissions; the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party and the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China. Under the arrangement of "one institution with two names", both commissions have identical personnel, organization and function, and operate under both the party and state systems. The commission's parallel hierarchy allows the CCP to supervise the political and military activities of the PLA, including issuing directives on senior appointments, troop deployments and arms spending.
The CMC is chaired by Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and paramount leader. Almost all the members are senior generals, but the most important posts have always been held by the party's most senior leaders (who are civilians under the principle that the Party commands the Gun) to ensure the loyalty of the armed forces. The CMC is housed in the Ministry of National Defense compound ("August 1st or 'Eight-One' 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 CCP Central Military Commission. 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 the CCP Central Revolutionary Military Commission was created after the Chinese Soviet Republic's Chinese Red Army were integrated into the Kuomintang's army for the anti-Japanese war, and it later evolved into the Central Military Commission after the 7th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party 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. The final coexistence of two military committees was set in 1954, as the CCP Central Military Commission was re-established, while state military authority rested into a National Defense Council of the People's Republic of China chaired by the President in keeping with the 1954 Constitution.
As Mao Zedong was also the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and led military affairs as a whole, the CMC and NDC'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 CCP 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 Council, 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).
In 2016, the four traditional general departments were dissolved by order of Chairman Xi Jinping, and in their place 15 new departments were created as part of the ongoing modernization of the PLA.
Functions
According to the Law of the People's Republic of China on National Defense, the CMC exercises leadership over border, maritime, air and other critical security defense. The CMC has the ultimate command authority over the armed forces of the People's Republic of China, including the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the People's Armed Police (PAP), and the Militia.
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. Unlike in most countries, the Central Military Commission is not an organizational equivalent of other government ministries. Although China does have a Ministry of National Defense, it exists solely for liaison with foreign militaries and does not have command authority.
Structure
There are two separate commissions; the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China and the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China. However, under the arrangement of "one institution with two names", both commissions have identical personnel, organization and function. The commission's parallel hierarchy allows the CCP to supervise the political and military activities of the PLA, including issuing directives on senior appointments, troop deployments and arms spending. The CMC is extremely opaque, and its meetings are almost never publicized.
The CMC is composed of a chairman, vice chairpersons, and other members. The CMC chairman is usually concurrently the CCP general secretary. The most important chain of command runs from the CMC to the 15 general departments and, in turn, to each of the service branches (ground, navy and air forces). In addition, the CMC also has direct control over the Rocket Forces, the three arms of service that were previously part of the former Strategic Support Forces (Aerospace Force, Information Support Force and Cyberspace Force), the National Defense University, and the Academy of Military Sciences.
= Departments
=Prior to 2016, the PLA was governed by four general departments. These were abolished after the military reforms in 2016 by order of Chairman Xi Jinping, replaced with 15 departments that report directly to the CMC. The new 15 departments are:
General Office (Deputy Theater Grade)
Joint Staff Department (CMC Member Grade)
Political Work Department (CMC Member Grade)
Discipline Inspection Commission (CMC Member Grade)
Politics and Legal Affairs Commission (Theater Grade)
Logistic Support Department (Deputy Theater Grade)
Equipment Development Department (Deputy Theater Grade)
Training Administration Department (Deputy Theater Grade)
National Defense Mobilization Department (Deputy Theater Grade)
Science and Technology Commission (Deputy Theater Grade)
Office for Strategic Planning (Corps Grade)
Office for Reform and Organizational Structure (Corps Grade)
Office for International Military Cooperation (Corps Grade)
Audit Office (Corps Grade)
Agency for Offices Administration (Corps Grade)
The Joint 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.
= Joint control organs
=The Central Military Commission Joint Operations Command Center was separated from the Joint Staff in the 2015 reforms and made directly commanded by the CMC. As well as serving as the command center for overall PLA joint operations, it supervises the Joint Operation Command Organs of each of the five command theaters.
Members
According to military regulations, the chairman of the CMC shall be conferred with no military rank, while vice chairmen and members of the CMC are conferred the rank of general by the virtue of their office.
The make-up of the current Central Military Commission of the CCP was determined at the 20th Party Congress held in October 2022; the state commission was confirmed at the 1st Session of the 14th National People's Congress.
CMC Chairman
Xi Jinping, also General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, President of China
CMC Vice Chairmen (2)
General Zhang Youxia, member of the 19th Politburo and the 20th Politburo
General He Weidong, member of the 20th Politburo
CMC Members (3)
General Liu Zhenli, Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff Department
Admiral Miao Hua, Director of the Political Work Department
General Zhang Shengmin Secretary of the Commission for Discipline Inspection
High command
As of 2024, China's Ministry of National Defense lists its high command as:
= Election
=According to the CCP constitution, the members of the Party CMC are elected by the CCP's Central Committee. In practice, membership is very closely controlled by the CCP's Politburo Standing Committee. Similarly, the State CMC is constitutionally elected by the National People's Congress (NPC) and theoretically reports to the NPC and its Standing Committee, but is in practice indistinguishable from the Party CMC. This difference in elections 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 16th Party Congress in November 2002, but they entered the State CMC in March 2003, when the 1st Session of the 10th NPC convened.
Notes
References
= Works cited
=Saunders, Phillip C.; Ding, Arthur S.; Scobell, Andrew; Yang, Andrew N.D.; Joel, Wuthnow, eds. (2019). Chairman Xi Remakes the PLA: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms. Washington, D.C.: National Defense University Press. ISBN 978-1070233420.
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