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The 'Central Military Commission' () refers to one of two bodies within the People's Republic of China, either to the 'Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China', a state organ, or the 'Central Military Commission of the Communist Party', a party organ.
Both Commissions are identical in membership, thus actually forming one single institution under two different names (). Both commissions are currently chaired by Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Contents

Command structure

Origin

Election of members

Function illustrated

The CMC within China's political system

Proposed reorganization

See also

Command structure

Unlike most national armies, the People's Liberation Army 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. One of the few other nations with same structure is Vietnam.
The party and state Central Military Commissions are in command of the Armed Forces of China, which consist of the People's Liberation Army (the military, including the PLA Ground Force, PLA Navy, PLA Air Force), People's Armed Police and militia.

Origin

The party Central Military Commission, existing since the end of World War II, is the original of the two institutions and hence actual control of China's armed forces wielded by this body, even though it is an organ of the party and not of the state. The state CMC was created in 1982 by the Constitution of the People's Republic of China in 1982 to formalize the role of the military within the state structure.

Election of members

Theoretically, the CCP 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, both taken 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 of China and are members of the Central Committee. The military members are apparently chosen with regular promotion procedures from within the People's Liberation Army.

Function illustrated

The 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. Under the constitution of the Chinese Communist Party, the CMC is subordinate to the Politburo. Three members of the Politburo Standing Committee voted for martial law while two, General Secretary Zhao Ziyang and President Yang Shangkun, voted against it.

The CMC within China's political system

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 be able to retain similar authority after his retirement from the positions of General Secretary and President, but this does not appear to be the case. 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.

Proposed reorganization

There has been an effort to establish a national security council-type body that would presumably assume greater control over governmental assets vital to national security, including the People's Liberation Army. It's not clear what role the Central Military Commission would play in such a reorganization.

See also

★ Supreme Military Command of PRC

★ List of leaders of the Communist Party of China