| Summary/Abstract |
Following the most recent round of military reforms launched in 2016, the People’s
Liberation Army (PLA), from the highest to the lowest echelons, has been moving
in the direction dictated by President Xi Jinping. The major concern of the PLA,
however, is the membership of the Central Military Commission (CMC). The
list of candidates for the CMC of the 19th National Congress of the Communist
Party of China (CPC) was not decided until the first plenary session of the Central
Committee of the CPC after the 19th National Congress. The CMC retains its one
chairman and two vice chairmen leadership structure, but only the chiefs of the
Joint Staff Department and Political Work Department, the Minister of National
Defense and the head of the Commission for Discipline Inspection are granted
a seat in the CMC. As compared with the 18th CMC, the 19th CMC has fewer
members. The decrease in the number of CMC members represents a change in
the command structure of the PLA. From a hierarchical perspective, each level of
command has its political and professional significance, also tasked with different
missions. All levels work together to manage the PLA, the world’s largest military
force. From the change in the composition of the CMC, the selection of candidates
for CMC membership, the qualifications of the candidates in terms of grade and
rank, and their functions, this study seeks to find out the impact of the 19th CMC
members and newly-appointed theater commands’ and the services’ commanding
generals and admirals on the PLA reforms as well as the implications thereof.
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