Abstract

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The Chinese military is under reform and the transformations are designed to give China greater capacity to project power overseas and to strengthen political control over the military. But the reforms run the risk of encountering major resistance.

Chinese commentaries make clear that maintaining political control over the PLA is a major motivation for China’s leadership. The establishment of new governance institutions gives the Communist Party even greater control over the PLA. Indeed, the obsession with political control gives ground to those who think that Xi Jinping faced a major challenge from a coalition of rival forces gathering around Bo Xilai and Zhou Yongkang, with support from inside the PLA.​