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).

Minister of National Defense of
the People's Republic of China
中华人民共和国国防部部长
Incumbent
Dong Jun
since 29 December 2023
Ministry of National Defense
StatusProvincial-Ministerial level official
Member ofState Council
Reports toCentral Military Commission
SeatBeijing
NominatorPremier
(chosen within the Chinese Communist Party)
AppointerPresident
with the confirmation of the National People's Congress or its Standing Committee
PrecursorMinister of National Defense of the Republic of China
Formation28 September 1954; 70 years ago (1954-09-28)
First holderPeng Dehuai
Websiteeng.mod.gov.cn/xb/Ministry/index.html

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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No. Portrait Minister Took office Left office Time in office Defence branch
1Dehuai, PengMarshal
Peng Dehuai
彭德怀

(1898–1974)
28 September 195417 September 19594 years, 201 days  PLA Ground Force
2Biao, LinMarshal
Lin Biao
林彪

(1907–1971)
17 September 195913 September 197112 years, 149 days  PLA Ground Force
Vacant
13 September 1971 – 17 January 1975
3Jianying, YeMarshal
Ye Jianying
叶剑英

(1897–1986)
17 January 197526 February 19783 years, 40 days  PLA Ground Force
4Xiangqian, XuMarshal
Xu Xiangqian
徐向前

(1901–1990)
26 February 19786 March 19812 years, 345 days  PLA Ground Force
5Biao, GengGeng Biao
耿飚

(1909–2000)
6 March 198119 November 19821 year, 105 daysNone[b]
6Aiping, ZhangGeneral
Zhang Aiping
张爱萍

(1910–2003)
19 November 198212 April 19885 years, 145 days  PLA Ground Force
7Jiwei, QinGeneral
Qin Jiwei
秦基伟

(1914–1997)
12 April 198829 March 19934 years, 351 days  PLA Ground Force
8Haotian, ChiGeneral
Chi Haotian
迟浩田

(born 1929)
29 March 199317 March 20039 years, 353 days  PLA Ground Force
9Gangchuan, CaoGeneral
Cao Gangchuan
曹刚川

(born 1935)
17 March 200317 March 20085 years, 0 days  PLA Ground Force
10Guanglie, LiangGeneral
Liang Guanglie
梁光烈

(1940–2024)
17 March 200816 March 20135 years, 0 days  PLA Ground Force
11Wanquan, ChangGeneral
Chang Wanquan
常万全

(born 1949)
16 March 201319 March 20185 years, 3 days  PLA Ground Force
12Fenghe, WeiGeneral[c]
Wei Fenghe
魏凤和

(born 1954)
19 March 201812 March 20234 years, 358 days  PLA Rocket Force
13Shangfu, LiGeneral[c]
Li Shangfu
李尚福

(born 1958)
12 March 202324 October 2023226 days  PLA Strategic Support Force
Vacant
24 October – 29 December 2023
14Jun, DongAdmiral
Dong Jun
董军

(born 1961)
29 December 2023Incumbent340 days  PLA Navy

Notes

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  1. ^ (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]
  2. ^ Formerly  Chinese Red Army
  3. ^ a b revoked in June 2024[14]

References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "People's Republic of China Defense Minister visits Singapore". www.mindef.gov.sg. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Jiang Chenglong (2023-08-17). "Minister: China committed to safeguarding world peace". China Daily. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  5. ^ "中华人民共和国国务院". gov.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  6. ^ "China's Communist Party expels former defence ministers Li Shangfu, Wei Fenghe for corruption". Channel NewsAsia. 2024-06-27. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  7. ^ "China officially expels Li Shangfu as defense minister". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  8. ^ "The Shakeup in China's Rocket Force Continues". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  9. ^ "Constitution of the People's Republic of China". National People's Congress. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Torode, Greg; Tian, Yew Lun (2023-09-18). "China's military hierarchy under spotlight after defence minister disappears". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  12. ^ "The mystery surrounding China's missing defence minister". The Economist. 15 September 2023. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ "China's Communist Party expels former defence ministers Li Shangfu, Wei Fenghe for corruption". Channel NewsAsia. 2024-06-27. Retrieved 2024-06-27.