China's political commissars and commanders : trends and dynamics

Political Commissars and Commanders in the Chinese military played a significant role for more than seven decades. Several commonalities, differences and relative influences of these two in the military hierachy existed, though both were tasked to pursue political and strategic goals set by the Comm...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Srikanth Kondapalli
Other Authors: S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Format: Working Paper
Published: 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/91120
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/4484
Description
Summary:Political Commissars and Commanders in the Chinese military played a significant role for more than seven decades. Several commonalities, differences and relative influences of these two in the military hierachy existed, though both were tasked to pursue political and strategic goals set by the Communist Party in the internal matters or external dimensions of China. Even as the Commanders' role remained vital in the current phase of military modernisation, professionalism and power projection, the role of the Political Commissars is expected to be enhanced with the launching of "three wars" - media, legal and psychological warfare - from 2003.