ABSTRACT
A system of checks and balances has been a prominent feature of the political set-up of Imperial China as well as Communist China. Traditional Chinese governments maintained a checks and balances system between two or more state bureaucracies. The system of checks and balances is also a cardinal feature of the new political set-up that had emerged in the wake of the Tenth Party Congress and the First Session of the Fourth National People's Congress. The system of checks and balances, which is sought to be instituted among personalities, different groups and as between Party functionaries and army leaders, is not confined only to the central leadership organs. It is also at work in the regional military, commands, the provincial Party Committees and as between the People's Liberation Army and the Party at the provincial level. The military commanders of the Military Regions and Military Districts are kept in check by the institution of civilian Political Commissars.
