The PLA at Home and Abroad - Strategic Studies Institute - U.S. Army

to command the gun (as Mao famously insisted), the
CMC has been dominated by men in uniform. In late
2009, membership of the commission was overwhelmingly
military with only ONE of the 11 seats being
occupied by a civilian. Of course, the civilian is none
other than Hu Jintao, who chairs the CMC and concurrently
serves as President of the PRC and General
Secretary of the CCP. Hu is certainly the commander
in chief, but he essentially depends on his colleagues
in uniform for their military advice and counsel. So
this key mechanism of civilian/party control of the
military is very much a military entity. Nevertheless,
all these soldiers are also senior members of the Communist
Party. Thus, perhaps the most accurate word
to characterize the relationship between the CCP and
PLA is “interpenetration.” 6
Examination of this discourse in three dimensions
will provide insight into key aspects of Chinese
doctrinal development. An analysis of vertical and
horizontal discourse will underscore both frustration
among and maneuvering by uniformed personnel as
they make sense of all these modifications, what these
mean in concrete terms to the various constituent
parts of the PLA and how to implement them effectively.
An analysis of outward-directed discourse will
highlight the PLA’s effort to counter concerns abroad
that China constitutes a military threat to any other
country. I use the term “discourse” rather than “debate”
because the former term seems to characterize
more accurately what has been happening. The PLA
is not debating the pros and cons of the New Historic
Missions or whether to revise or junk them. Instead,
Chinese soldiers are trying to make sense of the New
Historic Missions and implement them in ways that
will enhance rather than hamper PLA capabilities and
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