ABSTRACT
The military officer must remain neutral politically. For Huntington, military professionalism means political neutrality–with what Mao Tse-tung would refer to as the "purely military viewpoint." Mao's opposition to "professionalism" as defined by Huntington is well known; what is perhaps more analytically important is the extent to which Western scholars have accepted Huntington's proposition. Abrahamsson questions Huntington's linkage between professionalism and political neutrality and the proposition that civil control of the military establishment can be best achieved by maximizing military professionalism and its concomitant political neutrality. The tension in the Party control of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and between members of the officer corps and some elements of the Party leadership is not over whether the officer corps should be professional, but over what particular form the professionalization should take. The PLA's mission as defined by the Chinese is much broader than the professional soldier's mission defined by Huntington.
