ABSTRACT
The 1985 military personnel reshuffle can be regarded as a victory won by civilian leaders to uphold civilian supremacy over the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The competition for limited resources, together with different perceptions of the “correct” revolution, provide the civilian party with plenty of room to manipulate the various groups within the military and, therefore, to carry out every political campaign. Teng Hsiao-ping’s agreement to launch the Anti-Spiritual Pollution campaign in late 1983 can also be regarded as a compromise between civilians’ more pragmatic policies and the military’s more dogmatic ones. In order to bolster the power base of new civilian leaders, the Tengists are trying to use legal approaches to institutionalize the state and party organs. The PLA’s production of civilian goods and its transfer of technology to the civilian sector can be also regarded as a means for military involvement in civilian works.
