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87-450: As of fall 2014, the university has 7 campuses, consists of 7 departments, covers a total area of 36,000 mu, with more than 19,000,000 square meters of floor space. The People's Liberation Army Air Force Aviation University was originally established by the People's Liberation Army in 1946 as the "Northeastern Democratic United Army Aviation School" (Chinese: 东北民主联军航空学校 ). On 9 June 2004,

174-503: A body operating on consensus that executes powers normally granted to a single officeholder. The 16th Party Congress also saw Li Changchun gain a seat on the PSC without a formally defined portfolio, though he was widely considered to be the "propaganda chief". Huang Ju died in June 2007, becoming the first sitting PSC member to die in office since 1976. His vacancy was not filled ostensibly because it

261-534: A hard-and-fast rule. Overly showy or high-profile 'campaigning' for the PSC, such as the actions of former Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai , were considered detrimental to PSC selection. The Politburo Standing Committee comprises the highest-ranked officials and is the highest political decision-making body of the Chinese Communist Party and, by extension, the People's Republic of China. The PSC members are

348-586: A humanitarian and medical training practice conducted in Gabon. For the past 10 to 20 years, the PLA has acquired some advanced weapons systems from Russia, including Sovremenny class destroyers , Sukhoi Su-27 and Sukhoi Su-30 aircraft, and Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines. It has also started to produce several new classes of destroyers and frigates including the Type 052D class guided-missile destroyer. In addition,

435-636: A major threat, and the new threats to China are seen to be a declaration of independence by Taiwan , possibly with assistance from the United States, or a confrontation over the Spratly Islands . In 1985, under the leadership of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the CMC, the PLA changed from being constantly prepared to "hit early, strike hard and to fight a nuclear war" to developing

522-751: A member of the CMC. Previously, the PLA was governed by four general departments; the General Political, the General Logistics, the General Armament, and the General Staff Departments. These were abolished in 2016 under the military reforms undertaken by Xi Jinping, replaced with 15 new functional departments directly reporting to the CMC: Included among the 15 departments are three commissions. The CMC Discipline Inspection Commission

609-525: A reduced role in political affairs and limited budgets; the military was downsized to free resources for economic development . The lack of oversight, ineffective self-regulation, and Jiang Zemin 's and Hu Jintao 's lack of close personal ties to the PLA, led to systemic corruption that persisted through the late-2010s. Jiang's attempt to divest the PLA of its commercial interests was only partly successful as many were still run by close associates of PLA officers. Corruption lowered readiness and proficiency,

696-451: A result of its egalitarian organization, the early PLA overturned strict traditional hierarchies that governed the lives of peasants. As sociologist Alessandro Russo summarizes, the peasant composition of the PLA hierarchy was a radical break with Chinese societal norms and "overturned the strict traditional hierarchies in unprecedented forms of egalitarianism[.]" In the PRC's early years, the PLA

783-689: A rotational basis to combat the Ebola virus outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau. As of 2023, this was the PLA's largest medical assistance mission in another country. China re-organized its military from 2015 to 2016 . In 2015, the PLA formed new units including the PLA Ground Force, the PLA Rocket Force and the PLA Strategic Support Force. In 2016, the CMC replaced

870-422: A series of straw polls to determine their support for the candidacy of new Politburo and PSC members. These straw polls are not binding and instead reflect the evolving consensus of the group on a new member's candidacy. The Politburo may also conduct a straw poll of all incumbent Central Committee members on the candidacy of new Politburo and PSC members, but this poll is only consultative. The process of selecting

957-408: A single body. The only difference in membership between the two occurs for a few months every five years, during the period between a Party National Congress , when Party CMC membership changes, and the next ensuing National People's Congress, when the state CMC changes. The CMC is composed of a chairman , vice chairpersons and regular members. The chairman of the CMC is the commander-in-chief of

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1044-595: Is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Historically it has been composed of five to eleven members, and currently has seven members. Its officially mandated purpose is to conduct policy discussions and make decisions on major issues when the Politburo , a larger decision-making body, is not in session. According to the party's constitution , the General Secretary of

1131-655: Is charged with rooting out corruption. The CCP maintains absolute control over the PLA. It requires the PLA to undergo political education, instilling CCP ideology in its members. Additionally, China maintains a political commissar system. Regiment-level and higher units maintain CCP committees and political commissars ( Chinese : 政治委员 or 政委 ). Additionally, battalion-level and company-level units respectively maintain political directors and political instructors. The political workers are officially equal to commanders in status. The political workers are officially responsible for

1218-462: Is currently serving serving his fourth term. Policy views of ambitious aspirants are routinely concealed in order to gain the broadest level of consensus, with Hu Jintao being a prime example. Various theories have been proposed, mostly by academic outside of mainland China, to discern the 'factions' within a Standing Committee (often between "conservatives" and "reformers"), though in practice due to its opaque operations, faction membership has never been

1305-399: Is not a traditional nation-state military. It is a part, and the armed wing, of the CCP and controlled by the party, not by the state. The PLA's primary mission is the defense of the party and its interests. The PLA is the guarantor of the party's survival and rule, and the party prioritizes maintaining control and the loyalty of the PLA. According to Chinese law, the party has leadership over

1392-515: Is responsible for convening the meetings of the PSC and decides their agenda. The PSC meets roughly every week, though its meetings are rarely publicized. The membership of the Politburo Standing Committee has ranged from five to nine people, but is currently at seven. All members of the PSC are national-level leaders . As of 2015 , Politburo Standing Committee members receive a monthly salary of approximately US$ 1,833. The following

1479-474: Is something from folklore, and cannot be trusted." In 2002, apart from Hu Jintao, the entire PSC retired and was replaced. Strict age-based retirement instituted in the CCP meant de facto term limits and relatively high turnover, with the vast majority of members serving for one or two terms. Since 1989, the only two PSC members to have served more than three terms on the body has been Hu Jintao, who served for four terms between 1992 and 2012, and Xi Jinping, who

1566-547: Is technically responsible to the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. In Chinese political usage, a "Standing Committee" (常务委员会, Chángwù Wěiyuánhuì ) simply refers to a body that carries out the day-to-day affairs of its parent organ, in this case, the Politburo. "Politburo Standing Committee" is the most commonly used name to refer to the body in English-language media. It is sometimes abbreviated PSC or PBSC (if "Politburo"

1653-415: Is the PLA's interface with state and foreign entities and insulates the PLA from external influence. Today, the majority of military units around the country are assigned to one of five theatre commands by geographical location. The PLA is the world's largest military force (not including paramilitary or reserve forces ) and has the second largest defence budget in the world. China's military expenditure

1740-504: Is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China . It consists of four services — Ground Force , Navy , Air Force , and Rocket Force —and four arms— Aerospace Force , Cyberspace Force , Information Support Force , and Joint Logistics Support Force . It is led by the Central Military Commission (CMC) with its chairman as commander-in-chief . The PLA can trace its origins during

1827-539: Is written as "Political Bureau"). It can also be referred to informally as simply the "Standing Committee". In its official English-language press releases, Chinese state media refers to the body by its lengthier, formal name, "The Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee". In turn, its members are officially referred to as "Members of Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of

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1914-481: The 9th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party , radical supporters of Mao, Chen Boda , and Kang Sheng , gained seats on the Politburo Standing Committee, and it resumed a somewhat normal functioning. The last years of the Cultural Revolution were dominated by internal chaos. Between 1975 and 1976, PSC members Kang Sheng, Zhou Enlai , Zhu De, and Mao all died. Deng Xiaoping was purged. During this time

2001-689: The Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies , rise in the Chinese political system and selection to the Standing Committee depends more on loyalty to powerful patrons than on ability. It was widely believed, for example, that the Standing Committee line-up of the 16th Party Congress included several members who were elevated based on their relationship with outgoing General Secretary Jiang Zemin, including, most notably, Zeng Qinghong , Huang Ju, and Jia Qinglin . Much has been written on

2088-819: The Long March . During the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945, the CCP's military forces were nominally integrated into the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China forming two main units, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army . During this time, these two military groups primarily employed guerrilla tactics , generally avoiding large-scale battles with the Japanese, at

2175-694: The Nanjing Military Region (1954–74), Yang Dezhi in the Jinan Military Region (1958–74), Chen Xilian in the Shenyang Military Region (1959–73), and Han Xianchu in the Fuzhou Military Region (1960–74). In the early days of the Cultural Revolution, the PLA abandoned the use of the military ranks that it had adopted in 1955. The establishment of a professional military force equipped with modern weapons and doctrine

2262-747: The National People's Congress , the Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference , the Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection , the party's top anti-graft body, and the first secretary of the CCP Secretariat have consistently also been members of the Politburo Standing Committee. The portfolios of additional members varied. The Politburo Standing Committee

2349-702: The National Revolutionary Army rebelled under the leadership of Zhu De , He Long , Ye Jianying , Zhou Enlai , and other leftist elements of the Kuomintang (KMT), after the Shanghai massacre in 1927. They were then known as the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army , or simply the Red Army. In 1934 and 1935, the Red Army survived several campaigns led against it by Chiang Kai-Shek 's KMT and engaged in

2436-564: The Republican Era to the left-wing units of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT) when they broke away in 1927 in an uprising against the nationalist government as the Chinese Red Army , before being reintegrated into the NRA as units of New Fourth Army and Eighth Route Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War . The two NRA communist units were reconstituted as

2523-796: The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan by supporting the Afghan mujahidin and ramping up their military presence near Afghanistan in Xinjiang. China acquired military equipment from the United States to defend itself from Soviet attacks. The PLA Ground Force trained and supported the Afghan Mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan War, moving its training camps for the mujahideen from Pakistan into China itself. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of anti-aircraft missiles, rocket launchers, and machine guns were given to

2610-595: The 1980s, the PSC was restored as the party's supreme decision-making body. The committee was again organized on the basis of democratic centralism , that is, decisions were to be made based on consensus, and, failing that, decisions are taken by majority vote; once a decision is taken the entire body speaks with one voice. However, the PSC competed with retired party elders (organized as the Central Advisory Commission , though they made most of their decisions informally) for influence. Deng Xiaoping himself bridged

2697-451: The 29 Standing Committee members inaugurated to the body since 1997, only six individuals have not held regional party chief positions: Li Peng, Wen Jiabao, Li Lanqing, Luo Gan, Liu Yunshan, Wang Huning, and Ding Xuexiang; of these, only three – Li Peng, Wen Jiabao, and Wang Huning have never served in a regional leadership role. Age is also key. For instance, since 1989, all Standing Committee members have been at least 50 years old at

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2784-920: The Air Force Changchun Flight Academy (Chinese: 中国人民解放军空军长春飞行学院 ), Air Force Second Aviation Academy (Chinese: 中国人民解放军空军第二航空学院 ), Air Force Seventh Flight Academy (Chinese: 中国人民解放军空军第七飞行学院 ) merged to form the People's Liberation Army Air Force Aviation University. On 28 April 2012, the Air Force Thirteenth Flight Academy (Chinese: 中国人民解放军空军第十三飞行学院 ) merged into the university. The PLA Air Force Aviation University's total collection amounts to more than 612,000 items. 43°50′34.6″N 125°19′24.3″E  /  43.842944°N 125.323417°E  / 43.842944; 125.323417 People%27s Liberation Army Arms [REDACTED] General Zhang Youxia The People's Liberation Army ( PLA )

2871-445: The CPC Central Committee". These official forms are rarely used by English-language newspapers outside of mainland China. In official Chinese-language announcements, the most commonly used name for members of the body is Zhōnggòng Zhōngyāng Zhèngzhìjú Chángwěi (中共中央政治局常委); this is an abbreviation of the much lengthier official title of Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Zhèngzhìjú Chángwù Wěiyuánhuì Wěiyuán (中国共产党中央政治局常务委员会委员). As even

2958-503: The Central Committee must also be a member of the Politburo Standing Committee. According to the party's Constitution, the party's Central Committee elects the Politburo Standing Committee. In practice, however, this is only a formality. The method by which membership is determined has evolved over time. In turn, the Politburo chooses the Politburo Standing Committee through secretive negotiations. The Standing Committee functions as

3045-531: The Chinese armed forces . A goal of the RMA is to transform the PLA into a force capable of winning what it calls "local wars under high-tech conditions" rather than a massive, numbers-dominated ground-type war. Chinese military planners call for short decisive campaigns, limited in both their geographic scope and their political goals. In contrast to the past, more attention is given to reconnaissance , mobility, and deep reach. This new vision has shifted resources towards

3132-554: The Chinese leadership with a stark realization that the PLA was an oversized, almost-obsolete force. The USA's sending of two aircraft carrier groups to the vicinity of Taiwan during the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis prompted Jiang to order a ten-year PLA modernization program. The possibility of a militarized Japan has also been a continuous concern to the Chinese leadership since the late 1990s. In addition, China's military leadership has been reacting to and learning from

3219-508: The Cultural Revolution, the Politburo Standing Committee ceased normal operations, as many of its key members, such as Chinese President Liu Shaoqi and Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping , fell out of favour with Chairman Mao. Real power was concentrated in the Cultural Revolution Group , which was nominally reporting to the Politburo Standing Committee but in fact was a separate "centre of authority" that acted mostly on its own accord. At

3306-744: The Mujahideen by the Chinese. Chinese military advisors and army troops were also present with the Mujahideen during training. In 1981, the PLA conducted its largest military exercise in North China since the founding of the People's Republic. In the late 1980s, the central government had increasing expenditures and limited revenue. The central government encouraged its agencies and encouraged local governments to expand their services and pursue revenues. The PLA established businesses including hotels and restaurants. The PLA gained more autonomy and permission to engage in commercial activities in exchange for

3393-708: The Ninth Five Year Plan (1996–2000) the PLA was reduced by a further 500,000. The PLA had also been expected to be reduced by another 200,000 by 2005. The PLA has focused on increasing mechanization and informatization to be able to fight a high-intensity war. Former CMC chairman Jiang in 1990 called on the military to "meet political standards, be militarily competent, have a good working style, adhere strictly to discipline, and provide vigorous logistic support" ( Chinese : 政治合格、军事过硬、作风优良、纪律严明、保障有力 ; pinyin : zhèngzhì hégé, jūnshì guòyìng, zuòfēng yōuliáng, jìlǜ yánmíng, bǎozhàng yǒulì ). The 1991 Gulf War provided

3480-497: The PAP, the reserves, and the militia . The armed forces are controlled by the CCP under the doctrine of " the Party must always control the gun ".( Chinese : 党指挥枪 ; pinyin : Dǎng zhǐhuī qiāng ) The PLA and the PAP have the largest delegation in the National People's Congress (NPC), which are elected by servicemember election committees of top-level military subdivisions, including

3567-422: The PLA in 1947. Since 1949, the PLA has used nine different military strategies, which it calls "strategic guidelines". The most important came in 1956, 1980, and 1993. Politically, the PLA and the paramilitary People's Armed Police (PAP) have the largest delegation in the National People's Congress (NPC); the joint delegation currently has 281 deputies—over 9% of the total—all of whom are CCP members. The PLA

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3654-788: The PLA operates a base in Tajikistan and a listening station in Cuba. The Espacio Lejano Station in Argentina is operated by a unit of a PLA. The PLAN has also undertaken rotational deployments of its warships at the Ream Naval Base in Cambodia. The People's Republic of China has sent the PLA to various hotspots as part of China's role as a prominent member of the United Nations. Such units usually include engineers and logistical units and members of

3741-503: The PLA under the name of the People's Volunteer Army intervened in the Korean War as United Nations forces under General Douglas MacArthur approached the Yalu River . Under the weight of this offensive, Chinese forces drove MacArthur's forces out of North Korea and captured Seoul , but were subsequently pushed back south of Pyongyang north of the 38th Parallel . The war also catalyzed

3828-417: The PLA's primary objectives, although the armed forces' political loyalty to the CCP has remained a leading concern. Beginning in the 1980s, the PLA tried to transform itself from a land-based power centered on a vast ground force to a smaller, more mobile, high-tech one capable of mounting operations beyond its borders. The motivation for this was that a massive land invasion by Russia was no longer seen as

3915-520: The PLA's theater commands and service branches. At the 14th National People's Congress ; the joint delegation has 281 deputies—over 9% of the total—all of whom are CCP members. The PLA is governed by the Central Military Commission (CMC); under the arrangement of " one institution with two names ", there exists a state CMC and a Party CMC, although both commissions have identical personnel, organization and function, and effectively work as

4002-555: The PLA, with the post generally held by the paramount leader of China; since 1989, the post has generally been held together with the CCP general secretary . Unlike in other countries, the Ministry of National Defense and its Minister do not have command authority, largely acting as diplomatic liaisons of the CMC, insulating the PLA from external influence. However, the Minister has always been

4089-532: The PLA. In 2004, paramount leader Hu Jintao stated the mission of the PLA as: China describes its military posture as active defense , defined in a 2015 state white paper as "We will not attack unless we are attacked, but we will surely counterattack if attacked." The CCP founded its military wing on 1 August 1927 during the Nanchang uprising , beginning the Chinese Civil War . Communist elements of

4176-877: The PLA. During the Sino-Soviet split , strained relations between China and the Soviet Union resulted in bloody border clashes and mutual backing of each other's adversaries. China and Afghanistan had neutral relations with each other during the King's rule. When the pro-Soviet Afghan Communists seized power in Afghanistan in 1978, relations between China and the Afghan communists quickly turned hostile. The Afghan pro-Soviet communists supported China's enemies in Vietnam and blamed China for supporting Afghan anticommunist militants. China responded to

4263-631: The PLAAF has designed its very own Chengdu J-10 fighter aircraft and a new stealth fighter, the Chengdu J-20 . The PLA launched the new Jin class nuclear submarines on 3 December 2004 capable of launching nuclear warheads that could strike targets across the Pacific Ocean and have three aircraft carriers, with the latest, the Fujian, launched in 2022. From 2014 to 2015, the PLA deployed 524 medical staff on

4350-401: The PSC occurred. At the 14th Party Congress in 1992, seven people – Jiang, Li Peng, Qiao Shi , Li Ruihuan, Zhu Rongji , Liu Huaqing , and Hu Jintao – were named to the Standing Committee, this arrangement remained unchanged until the regularly scheduled 15th Party Congress in 1997, where Qiao Shi and Liu Huaqing retired and were replaced by Wei Jianxing and Li Lanqing , showing

4437-414: The PSC, notably Premier Li Peng . In the aftermath, Zhao and Hu Qili were removed from the PSC at the Fourth Plenum in 1989, largely by fiat of Deng and the elders rather than institutional procedure, to be replaced by Jiang Zemin and Li Ruihuan . The operation of the Standing Committee has remained largely stable since Tiananmen in 1989. The 1989 Plenum was the last occasion where a major reshuffle of

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4524-415: The Party's Central Committee. It was composed of the top leadership figures of the larger Political Bureau (i.e., the Politburo ). Unlike most other Communist parties in the world modeled after the party of Lenin, the CCP formed a Standing Committee because the Politburo (normally the highest organ in a communist party) was considered too large and unwieldy to make decisions effectively. In the early days of

4611-459: The Politburo and the Standing Committee. The PSC is theoretically responsible to the Politburo, which is in turn responsible to the larger Central Committee. In practice, the Standing Committee is supreme over its parent bodies. Additionally, because China is a one-party state, Standing Committee decisions de facto have the force of law. Its membership is closely watched by both the national media as well as political watchers abroad. Historically,

4698-418: The Standing Committee was expanded from seven to nine members. Some political observers speculated that the expansion was done in order to stack the new Standing Committee with loyalists of Jiang Zemin, though this characterization has been disputed. During Hu Jintao's term as General Secretary (2002–2012), the PSC could be understood as a "leadership collective" or a "joint presidency"; that is, essentially

4785-432: The active PSC members to attend. Wang and Zhang were both arrested at the meeting and accused of "counter-revolutionary crimes". Thereafter, only Ye and Hua continued their official duties. A functioning PSC was not restored until 1977. After taking power in 1978, one of the goals of Deng Xiaoping was to strengthen the power of the party and institutionalize bodies such as the Politburo and its Standing Committee. For much of

4872-418: The armed forces and the CMC exercises supreme military command; the party and state CMCs are practically a single body by membership. Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has also been the CMC Chairman; this grants significant political power as the only member of the Politburo Standing Committee with direct responsibilities for the armed forces. The Ministry of National Defense has no command authority; it

4959-406: The armed forces. This is particularly visible in maritime territorial disputes where the navy is heavily involved in the planning, coordination and execution of operations by the PAP's China Coast Guard . The PLA's primary mission is the defense of the CCP and its interests. It is the guarantor of the party's survival and rule, and the party prioritizes maintaining control and the loyalty of

5046-467: The big anniversary it mounted its biggest parade yet and the first outside of Beijing, held in the Zhurihe Training Base in the Northern Theater Command (within the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region). In December 2023, Reuters reported a military leadership purge after high-ranking generals were ousted from the National People's Congress . Prior to 2017, over sixty generals were investigated and sacked. In addition to its Support Base in Djibouti ,

5133-441: The body lost any semblance of a functioning policy-making or executive organ, and it met only on an ad hoc basis. By Mao's death in September 1976, the only members who still attended meetings were Hua Guofeng , Zhang Chunqiao , Wang Hongwen , and Ye Jianying , with Zhang and Wang being members of the Gang of Four . On 6 October, Hua Guofeng called a PSC meeting ostensibly to discuss Mao's legacy and memorial arrangements, inviting

5220-404: The center of political power in China. Organizationally below them are the Politburo, and then the Central Committee. According to the Party Constitution, the party's Central Committee elects the Politburo Standing Committee during a plenary session. According to the party's constitution , the General Secretary of the Central Committee must also be a member of the PSC. The General Secretary

5307-493: The divide between Princelings and the Tuanpai ( Youth League faction) between the 16th and 18th Congresses, though it is not precisely known to what extent factional identity played in the selection of PSC members. Seniority also played an important role. It was established convention that a member of the PSC must have served for at least one term on the Politburo prior to entry to the PSC. However, this "rule" had been broken several times by those destined for party leader or

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5394-447: The epicenter of the CCP's power and leadership, and its membership has ranged from five to nine people. During the Mao Zedong era, Mao himself selected and expelled members, while during the Deng Xiaoping era consultations among party elders on the Central Advisory Commission determined membership. Since the 1990s, Politburo membership has been determined through deliberations and straw polls by incumbent and retired members of both

5481-434: The first signs that the PSC would become a term-based body operating on a fixed schedule. Liu Huaqing was also the last PSC member with a military background. In 1999, Vice President Hu Jintao also became Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission , as he was being groomed to succeed Jiang. This was the first time Vice President had occupied the post of Vice Chairman of the CMC. At the 16th Party Congress held in 2002,

5568-510: The four traditional military departments with a number of new bodies. China replaced its system of seven military regions with newly established Theater Commands: Northern , Southern , Western , Eastern , and Central . In the prior system, operations were segmented by military branch and region. In contrast, each Theater Command is intended to function as a unified entity with joint operations across different military branches. The PLA on 1 August 2017 marked its 90th anniversary. Before

5655-425: The implementation of party committee decisions, instilling and maintaining party discipline, providing political education, and working with other components of the political work system. Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Politburo Standing Committee ( PSC ), officially the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China ,

5742-427: The military in an era of peace. The PLA reoriented itself to modernization, improving its fighting ability, and becoming a world-class force. Deng Xiaoping stressed that the PLA needed to focus more on quality rather than on quantity. The decision of the Chinese government in 1985 to reduce the size of the military by one million was completed by 1987. Staffing in military leadership was cut by about 50 percent. During

5829-447: The navy and air force. The PLA is also actively preparing for space warfare and cyber-warfare . In 2002, the PLA began holding military exercises with militaries from other countries. From 2018 to 2023, more than half of these exercises have focused on military training other than war, generally antipiracy or antiterrorism exercises involving combatting non-state actors. In 2009, the PLA held its first military exercise in Africa,

5916-433: The new Politburo and PSC begins with a closed door session of the incumbent PSC at Beidaihe in the last summer before the Party Congress convenes in the fall. The list of Politburo and PSC candidates for the Central Committee to formally confirm is usually complete several weeks before the Party Congress. According to informed academic observers such as Cheng Li, a scholar at Brookings Institution , and Susan Shirk of

6003-418: The officially abbreviated terminology may still be too lengthy and unwieldy, some media outlets refer to PSC members as Zhèngzhìjú Chángwěi (政治局常委) or simply Chángwěi (常委). However, note that without any context, Changwei may still be an ambiguous term, as provincial and local party committees all have a Standing Committee, the members of which can also be known as Changwei . The first Standing Committee

6090-426: The paramilitary People's Armed Police and have been deployed as part of peacekeeping operations in Lebanon , the Republic of the Congo , Sudan , Ivory Coast , Haiti , and more recently, Mali and South Sudan . As of at least early 2024, China has not fought a war since 1979 and has only fought relatively minor conflicts since. The PLA is a component of the armed forces of China, which also includes

6177-409: The premiership, most notably with Zhu Rongji and Hu Jintao in 1992, and Li Keqiang and Xi Jinping in 2007. Jiang Zemin was also in the middle of serving out his first term on the Politburo before he was suddenly made General Secretary and thus a member of the PSC in 1989. Since the late 1990s, nearly all PSC members have experience as a party chief of a province or a direct-controlled municipality. Of

6264-400: The railroad forces, the communications forces, and the strategic forces, as well as other separate forces (like engineering and construction, logistics and medical services), were established later on. In this early period, the People's Liberation Army overwhelmingly consisted of peasants. Its treatment of soldiers and officers was egalitarian and formal ranks were not adopted until 1955. As

6351-531: The rapid modernization of the PLAAF. In 1962, the PLA ground force also fought India in the Sino-Indian War . In a series of border clashes in 1967 with Indian troops, the PLA suffered heavy numerical and tactical losses. Before the Cultural Revolution , military region commanders tended to remain in their posts for long periods. The longest-serving military region commanders were Xu Shiyou in

6438-480: The role of the PSC has varied and evolved. During the Cultural Revolution , for example, the PSC had little power. The membership of the PSC is strictly ranked in protocol sequence . Historically, the General Secretary (or Party Chairman ) has been ranked first; the rankings of other leaders have varied over time. Since the 1990s, the General Secretary, President, Premier, first-ranked Vice Premier, Chairman of

6525-529: The rule of qi-shang, ba-xia (七上八下; lit. "seven up, eight down"), referring to the fact that if a PSC member is 68 or older at the time of a party congress, he must retire, but if he is 67 or younger, he may still enter the committee. Recently, however, doubt has been cast over this "rule". A senior party cadre named Deng Maosheng, in a statement to state-run news agency Xinhua in October 2016, stated that "The strict boundaries of 'seven up, eight down' don’t exist. This

6612-585: The same time consolidating by recruiting KMT troops and paramilitary forces behind Japanese lines into their forces. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, the CCP continued to use the National Revolutionary Army unit structures until the decision was made in February 1947 to merge the Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army, renaming the new million-strong force the People's Liberation Army (PLA). The reorganization

6699-614: The successes and failures of the United States Armed Forces during the Kosovo War , the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan , the 2003 invasion of Iraq , and the Iraqi insurgency . All these lessons inspired China to transform the PLA from a military based on quantity to one based on quality. Chairman Jiang Zemin officially made a " revolution in military affairs " (RMA) part of the official national military strategy in 1993 to modernize

6786-401: The time of their appointment. Hu Jintao was 50 upon his appointment to the PSC at the 14th Party Congress in 1992. Xi Jinping was 54 and Li Keqiang was 52 at their appointment to the PSC at the 17th Party Congress in 2007. At the same time, since the 16th Party Congress in 2002, PSC members who were 68 or older at the time of a Party Congress have retired without exception. This has been known as

6873-443: The two bodies, and his informal clout translated to great political power personally. In 1987, Deng and other party elders ousted then General Secretary Hu Yaobang from the PSC, replacing him with Zhao Ziyang . In 1989, Deng and various party elders ordered the military to intervene in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests without gaining the consensus of the PSC. Zhao was opposed to declaring martial law and broke with other members of

6960-622: The vice-president. The positions of executive secretary of the Secretariat and that of "propaganda chief" were consolidated into one person, Liu Yunshan . Selection of members is believed to be largely the result of high-level deliberations among incumbent members of the party's Politburo and PSC as well as retired PSC members. Prospective candidates for membership in the PSC typically rely on individual members of this high level group to act as their patrons. The current and former Politburo members conduct several rounds of deliberations interspersed with

7047-423: Was US$ 296 billion in 2023, accounting for 12 percent of the world's defence expenditures . It is also one of the fastest modernizing militaries in the world, and has been termed as a potential military superpower, with significant regional defence and rising global power projection capabilities. In addition to wartime arrangements, the PLA is also involved in the peacetime operations of other components of

7134-528: Was a barrier to modernization and professionalization, and eroded party control. The 2010s anti-corruption campaigns and military reforms under Xi Jinping from the early-2010s were in part executed to address these problems. Following the PLA's suppression of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre , ideological correctness was temporarily revived as the dominant theme in Chinese military affairs. Reform and modernization have today resumed their position as

7221-463: Was a dominant foreign policy institution in the country. During the 1950s, the PLA with Soviet assistance began to transform itself from a peasant army into a modern one. Since 1949, China has used nine different military strategies, which the PLA calls "strategic guidelines". The most important came in 1956, 1980, and 1993. Part of this process was the reorganization that created thirteen military regions in 1955. In November 1950, some units of

7308-732: Was completed by late 1948. The PLA eventually won the Chinese Civil War, establishing the People's Republic of China in 1949. It then underwent a drastic reorganization, with the establishment of the Air Force leadership structure in November 1949, followed by the Navy leadership structure the following April. In 1950, the leadership structures of the artillery, armored troops, air defence troops, public security forces, and worker–soldier militias were also established. The chemical warfare defence forces,

7395-552: Was formed in July 1928, at a meeting of the 6th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party . Between January 1934 and the 1st plenary session of the 8th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 1956, the Standing Committee was replaced by the Central Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party . During the early history of the CCP it was seen as the highest central body that was intended to carry out day-to-day work of

7482-467: Was only a few months preceding a Party Congress, making the body operate temporarily with an eight-member structure. The 17th Party Congress maintained roughly the same structure as the 16th. At the 18th Party Congress held in 2012, membership of the PSC was yet again reduced to seven members. The head of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission did not feature in the new Standing Committee, neither did

7569-635: Was the last of the Four Modernizations announced by Zhou Enlai and supported by Deng Xiaoping . In keeping with Deng's mandate to reform, the PLA has demobilized millions of men and women since 1978 and has introduced modern methods in such areas as recruitment and manpower, strategy , and education and training . In 1979, the PLA fought Vietnam over a border skirmish in the Sino-Vietnamese War where both sides claimed victory. However, western analysts agree that Vietnam handily outperformed

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