ABSTRACT
Zhou Enlai, the late premier who was in direct charge of China's foreign policy-making and implementation for twenty-seven years, repeatedly stressed that "there is no small matter in foreign affairs" and "the authority of foreign policy decision rests with [the highest executive body of] the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with very limited power delegated [to other 'central' party and government organs or local authorities]." Professionalism has become the hallmark of the Foreign Ministry, as the makeup of its personnel has undergone a marked change. There are no "political appointees" and no military or security officers of a CIA-KGB type in the ministry as was common in the 1960s. The mechanism of policy-making in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is perhaps an archetype of a professional bureaucracy in the Chinese government. A vigorous system of strict discipline and hierarchic grading is applied to the diplomats.
