The right moves on China’s civilian-military chess board

Communist regimes often rest on a precarious balance between civilian political authority and the military's autonomy.

- Shikha Aggarwal

With his declaration that “power flows from the barrel of the gun, but the Party must always command the gun”, Mao Zedong addressed this inherent schism and made the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) subservient to the Communist Party of China (CPC). However, dictums alone can’t dictate power tussles, and all Chinese leaders since Mao have made tactical arrangements to command authority over the PLA and thereby, the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Unlike his predecessors, Xi Jinping’s dealings with the PLA have been troubled since the restructuring of the force in 2016. This relationship appears to have become increasingly tumultuous with an ever increasing number of Xi's picks falling into the anti-corruption net. Since 2017, the following number of generals promoted by Xi have fallen into the anti-corruption net: three out of six in 2017, I] out of 17 in 2019, three out of five in 2020, six out of nine in 2021, Il out of 12 in 2022, six out of seven in 2023, three out of three in 2024, and eight in 2025.