Evolution in the Civil-Military Relationship in the People's Republic of China and the Potential Impact on the Recent Endeavor to Professionalize the People's Liberation Army
Abstract
This thesis analyzes how civil-military relations in the People's Republic of China (PRC) have evolved during previous efforts to professionalize the military, and examines the impact of these relations on recent endeavors to professionalize the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Current approaches to understanding civil-military relations in the PRC have focused on the professionalization of the military. However, lessons learned from similar episodes of professionalization in the PLA's past have not been fully incorporated into the current analyses. This thesis presents two case studies chosen at times when there was a prominent shift in the relationship between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the PLA that negatively affected the push toward increased professionalization of the military. The first case study traces the movement toward and reversal of professionalization in the late 1950s, while the second case study follows the professionalization trend through the 1980s and its dramatic reversal in the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident. By comparing the key linkages between the CCP and the PLA that allowed for these previous reversals of professionalization in the military, the thesis highlights the consistencies among the different episodes in the PRC's civil-military history. Lastly, the thesis expands on the implications of these findings for contemporary civil-military relations and their potential impact on current professionalization of the PLA.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA563504
Entities
People
- Randall D. Jones
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School