Durham E-Theses The political role of the people's liberation army 1949-1973 Jai-chung, Chang How to cite: Jai-chung, Chang (1995) The political role of the people's liberation army 1949-1973, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5212/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. The Political Role Of The People's Liberation Army 1949-1973 By Chang Jia-chung A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Politics University of Durham 1995 i Acknowledgement I must express my thanks to my supervisors Mr. Reynords and Dr. Dillon for me to successfully complete this thesis. Mr. Reynolds is a learned scholar. His efforts in pursuit of new knowledge have impressed me a great deal. The four books he published substantiates the abundance of his academic foundation. He gave me valuable comments on my thesis, which was most beneficial to me. Dr. Dillon has great academic influence in the field of Chinese history. His attitude to research and his care for students have been most appreciated. Through our constant meetings, he made me realise academic research takes ceaseless efforts to complete. Both the Department of politics and the Department of East Asia is played equal importance to my study in Durham. I also want to thank my parents, Yin-kuo and Pei-feng Chang, for their encouragement. My wife, Su-jen Bein, for her support through ups and downs, and my sons, Yi and Yueh, who bring me hope for a better future. The Hatfield College guarding Kinsgate bridge manifests itself as power and send forth irresistible charm just like the lions in the college shield. As a member, it has profound significance to my study life in Durham. Finally, I have to say that I indulged heavily in the distinguished academic tradition and research environment of Durham university and the atmosphere of the medieval city. A walk along Wear riverside or the winding medieval narrow streets, or pondering all sorts of questions in the courtyard of Durham cathedral could always stimulate the inspiration of my knowledge. In my mind, the leafy Wear riverside in the colourful autumn is my philosopher's road, and the courtyard of Durham cathedral is my philosopher's quadrangle. Durham university together with Durham city are the true dreamland, they will be always in my memories. l Abstract Tito© Political Roll© off the People's Liberation! Army 1949=1973 By CSnffliag Jia-draiag For the Begre© off Doctor off Philosophy Department of Politics Umversity off IMriiaim 1995 This thesis is to study the political role of the People's Liberation Army from the approach of structure and function. The framework of the thesis consists of three major parts, first, the influence of Chinese traditional political culture on, and the formation of, the political role of the PL A; second, the influence of domestic political struggles and external military conflicts on the development of the political role of the PLA; and the third, the analysis of the transition of the PLA's political role from the structure and personnel arrangements of the CCPCC. Within the above-mentioned three scopes, this thesis make a thorough discussion on the following: (1) The relationship between the structure of the PRC and the formation of the PLA's political role; (2) How has ideology influenced the army's political role; (3) What is Mao's viewpoint and his influence on the development of the army's political role; (4) What is the link between the army and the party, and how has this developed; (6) What accounts for the expansion of the PLA's political functions; (7) What is the influence of political factional struggles on the PLA's political role; (8) Is it political institution or military institution that controls the recruitment of the military elite; (9) What are the disparities between the military elite in handling international conflicts and what are their political considerations; (10) What is the Party's position in the army; (11) How have the Party's important meetings and personnel arrangements influenced the rise and fall of the PLA's political role? Table of Contents Introduction i Chapter I. The Structure of the P.R.C 1 I. The Essence of the System 2 n. Political Socialisation and Political Culture 21 nr. The Unique Function of Ideology in the PRC's Regime 34 Chapter II. The Formation of the PLA's Political Role 42 I. The Origins 42 II. The Formation of Mao's Ideology for Building Up the Army and of the PLA's Political Role 59 III. The Relationship Between the Party and the Army 76 IV. The Relationship Between The Army And the Government 100 Chapter III. The Relationship Between the Development of Military Line and Politics of PRC 112 I. The impact of Korean War on the Development of the Political Role of thePLA 113 n. The Impact of Sino-Soviet Conflicts on the Development of the Political Role of the PLA 136 III. Sino-Soviet Chenpao Island Military Clashes 170 IV. The Crisis of the Vietnam War and the Development of the Section Army's Role 177 Chapter IV. The Party Line and the Political Power and Role of the PLA 193 I. Kao Kang and Jao shu-shih Anti-Party Clique 201 n. P'eng-Huang Anti-Party Clique 219 HI. The Case of Liu Shao-ch'i 241 IV. The Lin Piao Incident 267 Chapter V. The Influence of Special Events on the Political Role of the PLA at the Early Stage of the Cultural Revolution 300 I. The Purge of Lo Jui-ch'ing 302 n. The Eight Articles of the CCPCC Military Commission and the Event of the February Adverse Current 316 III. Wuhan incident 335 Chapter VI. The Influence of the Party Congress on the Political Role of the PLA 347 I. The Eighth CCP National Congress 349 II. The Ninth CCP National Congress 362 m. The Tenth CCP National Congress 375 Chapter VH. Conclusion 395 Bibliography Introduction Since World War II, most developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America have faced dramatic political changes. With a mix of low political institutionalisation and expansion of political participation, the army, with its overwhelming superiority, strict organisational system and "barrel of a gun" control, plays a leading role in political development. The influence of the military extends from military to non-military affairs. The relationship between the military and politics in the PRC is different from that of most developing countries. The PLA is the Party's army. Apart from military affairs, its tasks also include economic, social and political affairs, which means that in addition to the safeguard of national security, the PLA is also responsible for the protection of the Party, of the leader and of Communism. One of the striking features of the PLA is that it has never attempted either to carry out a coup d'etat to seize power for themselves, or to oppress, or blackmail the Government with its armed forces. Since the establishment of PRC's regime, PLA has, to a certain degree, been involved in various political campaigns, which include the movement of Three Red Banners and four major political line struggles, and many other national, economical and social campaigns. Furthermore, the different military backgrounds and their civil war experience formed factions which posses strong trait of mountaintopism, the small group mentality. Mao, therefore, as the supreme authority of the PLA and of the whole nation, took this advantage of the contradiction among the military elite and applied PLA as a means to carry out power-seizure struggles. In the first step, in the 50's, Mao destroyed Kao Kang and Jao Shu-shih to consolidate i central control over the locals, and then, in order to overthrow Liu Shao-ch'i, Mao tactically used Lin Piao's Fourth Field Army to struggle with other field armies. After the Lin Piao incident, however, Mao in turn incited the other field armies to eradicate the Fourth Field Army's power both centrally and the locally. It is worth noting that the political role of the PLA had gone through great changes between 1949 and 1973. From Peng Te-huai's advocating professional army-building programme after the Korea war to Lin Piao's carrying out political army-building program and a series of personality cults of Mao after the Lushan conference in 1959, and from Lin Piao and Lo Jui-ch'ing's great debate over the military policy of Vietnam War in mid 60'sto Mao's once again reinforcing the supreme principal of "Party commands the gun" after the Lin Piao incident in 1971.