ABSTRACT
The military establishment is extremely powerful in China. China's top military leaders have a very important and direct input into all policy-making, not only through Yu Qiuli at the Secretariat and Zhang Aiping at the State Council, but also directly from the highest military bodies to all the top civilian leaders and decision-making groups. The Party Central Military Commission, headed by Deng Xiaoping, is the highest authority in China's military establishment. The most important channel through which military views influence the foreign policy process in China is through Deng, although the members of the Military Commission, acting collectively or individually, also transmit their views directly to the top Party and government decision-making bodies. However, the problems of routine coordination between the Foreign Ministry and China's military establishment will probably grow in the period ahead, and so far the links between two ministries do not appear to be very close or effective.
