Minister of National Defense (China)
| Minister of National Defense of the People's Republic of China | |
|---|---|
| 中华人民共和国国防部部长 | |
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| Ministry of National Defense | |
| Status | Provincial-Ministerial level official |
| Member of | State Council |
| Reports to | Central Military Commission |
| Seat | Beijing |
| Nominator | Premier (chosen within the Chinese Communist Party) |
| Appointer | President with the confirmation of the National People's Congress or its Standing Committee |
| Precursor | Minister of National Defense of the Republic of China |
| Formation | 28 September 1954 |
| First holder | Peng Dehuai |
| Website | eng |
| People's Liberation Army |
|---|
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| Executive departments |
| Staff |
| Services |
| Arms |
| Domestic troops |
| Special operations force |
| Military districts |
| History of the Chinese military |
| Military ranks of China |
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The Minister of National Defense of the People's Republic of China is the head of the Ministry of National Defense and one of the top positions in the State Council. The minister usually is also a member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and a member of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the top governing body of China's armed forces including the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
Unlike in other countries, the minister does not have command authority over the armed forces, with the post generally used for diplomatic purposes. Nevertheless, until the appointment of the current incumbent, Admiral Dong Jun, the post was always held by a member of the CMC. Dong has been serving in the position since December 2023.
History
[edit]Historically, both the position and the ministry carried greater power.[1] In the first decades of the PRC, the ministry included several more departments. all overseen by vice ministers. The minister was held by influential generals, including Peng Dehuai, Lin Biao and Ye Jianying.[1]
The ministry was reformed into its current state in the 1982 constitutional revision. Between 1982 and 2008, the minister usually concurrently served as a vice chairman of the CMC, and was usually a member of the CCP Politburo. In addition, all ministers of National Defense would also be appointed as the state councillor, a position in the State Council newly established in 1982 consisting of high-ranking officeholders. And since all defense ministers are members of the CMC, in official state rhetoric, the ministers of National Defense is to be referred to as the "State Councillor and Minister of National Defense".[a] After 2008, holders of the position stopped serving concurrently as a CMC vice chair, further weakening the position.[1]
Among all its officeholders, Geng Biao was the only defence minister with a civil background, having no military rank of the PLA, neither was he a member thereof. Nonetheless, Geng did serve in the Red Army long before PLA’s foundation. With the exception of the aforementioned officeholder, all defence ministers in prior to Wei Fenghe came from the PLA Ground Force. In addition, current officeholder is yet to be appointed as a state councillor, making it the only exception to the aforementioned co-serving norm.[5]
Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu Scandals, 2023–2024
[edit]Notably, under the tenure of the President and CMC Chairman Xi Jinping, a series of major military scandals occurred from 2023 to June 2024, which eventually saw two of his former defence ministers, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, expelled from the CCP, with their military titles revoked.[6] Prior to this, Li was removed from the office only a couple of months after his appointment in March 2023, causing the position to be briefly vacant from October.[7] This was until Admiral Dong Jun was appointed into the office in December of the same year, making Dong the first PLA Navy officer to become the defence minister. Besides, the PLA Rocket Force, in which Wei was a member, also saw a purge that year, with corruption investigating taking place.[8]
Process of appointment
[edit]Officially, the minister is nominated by the premier of the State Council, who is then approved by the National People's Congress or its Standing Committee and appointed by the president.[9]
Functions
[edit]The military is under the governance of the CMC, putting the Ministry of National Defense out of the chain of command,[10] the minister is significantly less powerful than his counterparts from other countries, and has no direct command function over the military.[11] The post is generally seen as a diplomatic and ceremonial role, with the minister handling military-to-military ties with other countries.[12] However, until the appointment of the current incumbent, Admiral Dong Jun, the office has always been held by a member of the CMC.[13] Though the minister has historically been assisted by vice ministers, the ministry currently has no vice ministers.[1]
List of officeholders
[edit]| No. | Portrait | Minister | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marshal Peng Dehuai 彭德怀 (1898–1974) | 28 September 1954 | 17 September 1959 | 4 years, 201 days |  PLA Ground Force | |
| 2 | Marshal Lin Biao 林彪 (1907–1971) | 17 September 1959 | 13 September 1971 | 12 years, 149 days | PLA Ground Force | |
| Vacant 13 September 1971 – 17 January 1975 | ||||||
| 3 | Marshal Ye Jianying 叶剑英 (1897–1986) | 17 January 1975 | 26 February 1978 | 3 years, 40 days | PLA Ground Force | |
| 4 | Marshal Xu Xiangqian 徐向前 (1901–1990) | 26 February 1978 | 6 March 1981 | 2 years, 345 days | PLA Ground Force | |
| 5 | Geng Biao 耿飚 (1909–2000) | 6 March 1981 | 19 November 1982 | 1 year, 105 days | None[b] | |
| 6 | General Zhang Aiping 张爱萍 (1910–2003) | 19 November 1982 | 12 April 1988 | 5 years, 145 days | PLA Ground Force | |
| 7 | General Qin Jiwei 秦基伟 (1914–1997) | 12 April 1988 | 29 March 1993 | 4 years, 351 days | PLA Ground Force | |
| 8 | General Chi Haotian 迟浩田 (born 1929) | 29 March 1993 | 17 March 2003 | 9 years, 353 days | PLA Ground Force | |
| 9 | General Cao Gangchuan 曹刚川 (born 1935) | 17 March 2003 | 17 March 2008 | 5 years, 0 days | PLA Ground Force | |
| 10 | General Liang Guanglie 梁光烈 (1940–2024) | 17 March 2008 | 16 March 2013 | 5 years, 0 days | PLA Ground Force | |
| 11 | General Chang Wanquan 常万全 (born 1949) | 16 March 2013 | 19 March 2018 | 5 years, 3 days | PLA Ground Force | |
| 12 | Wei Fenghe 魏凤和 (born 1954) | 19 March 2018 | 12 March 2023 | 4 years, 358 days |  PLA Rocket Force | |
| 13 | Li Shangfu 李尚福 (born 1958) | 12 March 2023 | 24 October 2023 | 226 days |  PLA Strategic Support Force | |
| Vacant 24 October – 29 December 2023 | ||||||
| 14 | Admiral Dong Jun 董军 (born 1961) | 29 December 2023 | Incumbent | 340 days |  PLA Navy | |
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Notes
[edit]- ^ (Chinese: 国务委员兼国防部长). Sometimes with their respective position in the CMC added prior to it, in the form of "Vice Chairman (or Member) of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China, State Councillor and Minister of National Defense".[2][3][4]
- ^ Formerly
Chinese Red Army
- ^ a b revoked in June 2024[14]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Zheng, William (25 October 2023). "Why the role of Chinese defence minister isn't exactly what it sounds like". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ "People's Republic of China Defense Minister visits Singapore". www.mindef.gov.sg. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
- ^ Tsou, Benjamin K.; Lai, Tom B. Y.; Chow, Ka-po (2005). "Comparing Entropies within the Chinese Language". Natural Language Processing – IJCNLP 2004. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 3248. pp. 473–474. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-30211-7_49. ISBN 978-3-540-24475-2 – via Springer.
- ^ Jiang Chenglong (2023-08-17). "Minister: China committed to safeguarding world peace". China Daily. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
- ^ "中华人民共和国国务院". gov.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 2024-06-30.
- ^ "China's Communist Party expels former defence ministers Li Shangfu, Wei Fenghe for corruption". Channel NewsAsia. 2024-06-27. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
- ^ "China officially expels Li Shangfu as defense minister". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
- ^ "The Shakeup in China's Rocket Force Continues". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
- ^ "Constitution of the People's Republic of China". National People's Congress. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
- ^ Morris, Lyle J. (27 October 2022). "What China's New Central Military Commission Tells Us About Xi's Military Strategy". Asia Society. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
- ^ Torode, Greg; Tian, Yew Lun (2023-09-18). "China's military hierarchy under spotlight after defence minister disappears". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
- ^ "The mystery surrounding China's missing defence minister". The Economist. 15 September 2023. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
- ^ Liu, Zhen (18 October 2022). "What is China's Central Military Commission and why is it so powerful?". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
- ^ "China's Communist Party expels former defence ministers Li Shangfu, Wei Fenghe for corruption". Channel NewsAsia. 2024-06-27. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
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