Power Struggle

China's Central Military Commission is its smallest in decades, prompting observers to ask if President Xi Jinping's control is weakening

- DIDI KIRSTEN TATLOW

CHINA'S POWERFUL CENTRAL Military Commission has shrunk to its smallest size in decades under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, a Newsweek analysis shows, with analysts saying it highlights the personalization of his control—and efforts to make the military combat-ready.

The changes come at a critical time for China as it rivals the United States in military and economic terms amid the ever-present question as to whether it will seek to take over democratic Taiwan, which Communist Party leader Xi has repeatedly said he wants to incorporate as what he sees as an integral part of China.

Yet scores of changes in security and other political positions, including in the country's top military leadership, have also brought the dismissal of persons seen as Xi loyalists, raising speculation among some China-watchers of a challenge to the most powerful grip that any leader has held since the era of party strongmen Deng Xiaoping and Mao Zedong.

"I think it's a definite sign of Xi Jinping's attempts to personalize the control over the military," said Jaehwan Lim, a professor of international politics at Japan's Aoyama Gakuin University.

"I think that it's kind of becoming pathological, an extension of his personalization of the control of the military...His agenda is the strengthening of the PLA [People's Liberation Army], is combat readiness. That's his pretty clear agenda," Lim said.

Beijing's embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. An email to the address of the spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense on the ministry website was rejected by the ministry server.

"If there are different opinions among the policymakers, this agency will coordinate... collective opinions."

An Internal Challenge?