ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the key determinants of the emerging dynamic between China’s civilian and military elites, and analyzes the politics behind the fight against military malfeasance. China’s Reform and Opening-up has led to the institutionalization of corruption that has intensified under post-Deng Chinese Communist Party administrations. After nearly a decade of double-digit expansion, the economic conditions bequeathed to China’s new generation of leaders became less favorable as the economy began to adjust itself to “the new normal.” Rising inflation and the continued shift of industrial activity to neighboring countries with lower production costs also resulted in less robust economic performance. The regional strategic landscape inherited by the Chinese leader was also less favorable. The state of civilian–military affairs when Hu Jintao handed over his military portfolio also matters. Xi Jinping has likewise tightened his command and control through institutional and psychological mechanisms.
