ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with a relatively-narrow data base: those elites who were full or alternate members of the Politburo or central committee in I960, 1973 and 1982, and also held positions outside the center. It focuses on military region elites in order to determine the scope and type of linkages to the center and to the provinces. The chapter summarizes changes in the nature and scope of the interlocking directorate phenomenon. The total scope of regional representation in the central committee by military region, province party, military district and province government elites fluctuated widely between 1960 and 1982. The role of the military region in Chinese politics is one of the least understood of all institutions, even though its involvement in provincial politics was reported in detail during the cultural revolution. The increases in central committee membership by military district elites were not really military cadre but were the first secretaries who concurrently held the first political commissar position.
