Book Description

Over 50 experts in the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) gathered at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, from September 19-21, to attend the 2003 PLA Conference. Cosponsored by the U.S. Army War College, the Heritage Foundation, and the American Enterprise Institute, the conference was titled "After the 16th Party Congress: The Civil and the Military." The closing of the 16th Party Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and subsequent personnel appointments saw great change in the civil and military leadership of the PLA. Former President Jiang Zemin relinquished all of the Party and State offices he held within the Chinese Government, save one. He allowed himself to be re-elected for another term as Chief of the Party's Central Military Commission (CMC). By retaining control over the military, Jiang effectively usurped the Commander-in-Chief powers of the new General Party Secretary and President, Hu Jintao. This has lead to uncertainty within China about the exact military chain of command. Additionally, military leadership within the CMC has passed to a new generation of less political, more practical, generals. This conference addressed the impact that these personnel and political changes have had on the PLA. Some key insights from the conference are as follows: elder Chinese Communist Party leaders, such as Jiang Zemin, are becoming increasingly marginalized, while leaders of the Fourth Generation are becoming more prominent; the Chinese political system is becoming increasingly institutionalized, however, this process is not yet complete; there is growing separation between Chinese civil and military elites; the best way to describe China's new military leaders is as Techno-Nationalists -- generals with strong operational and technical backgrounds who have a great interest in modernizing the People's Liberation Army; and several new concepts in Chinese military thought require further study by Western researchers.