China's political commissars and commanders : trends and dynamics

• Main Author: Srikanth Kondapalli
• Other Authors: S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
• Format: Working Paper
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Military and naval science::Strategy::Asia
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/91120; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/4484
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

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.