ABSTRACT
The formation and the role of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has been of particular significance in Chinese political history. The army in China developed out of the revolutionary process and therefore its relationship with the political wing of the movement was a very close one. It is 'a measure of party dominance of the system that the PLA is sworn to defend the Communist party rather than the state' (Lieberthal, 1995: 205). This closeness affected the post-revolutionary power arrangements, and also the ways in which the military was included into the political structures of the People's Republic. The Chinese defence minister, for example, has always been included in the Politburo of the CCP, unlike in the former Soviet Union where the military elite was assiduously kept away from the structures of political power. In 1969, at the height of the PLA's influence in the political sphere, 47.5 per cent of the elected Central Committee members were soldiers, and in 1971 half of the State Council members were soldiers. In 1973, 37 per cent of the Central Committee members were from the armed forces, and 33 per cent in 1977. The position has changed radically in the post-Mao period, indicating a shift in the relationship between the military and the Party; only 12 per cent of the Central Committee members were from the military in 1987. These last figures do not necessarily indicate the lessening of importance of the military establishment in China, only a changing relationship between the Party and the army, and the role that the army is expected to play in the country.
