No CrossRef data available.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 February 2009
One of the most pressing needs of the Chinese Communists when they established their régime, was to convert the sprawling semi-guerrilla force which had brought them to power into a modern army capable of maintaining that power. China's leaders were acutely aware of this need and they lost little time in launching the armed forces on the long march to modernisation. No modernisation, however, could have succeeded without large numbers of officers skilled in running a complex military establishment. The Red Army commanders, though resourceful and battle-tested, were by and large not equipped for this task. It was necessary, therefore, to develop a professional officer corps.
1 For reasons of style, the phrases “the professional officers” and “some professional officers” are used interchangeably throughout the article. This, however, does not imply that I am referring to the entire professional officer corps. Although it is impossible to determine what percentage of the officers may be termed “professionals,” it is clear that only a part of the officer corps has been involved in this conflict.Google Scholar
2 No figures are available on how many officers are Party members, but it may be safely assumed that all the high-ranking officers and the overwhelming majority of the junior officers belong to the Party.Google Scholar
3 There is no space to sketch the salient features of the Chinese Red Army before 1949. Its “non-professional” nature in terms of weapons, training, organisation and political work is examined in some detail in Ellis Joffe's “The Chinese Red Army 1927–1949 and the ‘Man-Over-Weapons’ Doctrine,” unpublished paper, Harvard University, January 1964.Google Scholar
4 See, for example, New China News Agency (NCNA), 07 31, 1951, in Current Background (CB) (Hong Kong: U.S. Consulate-General), No. 208;Google Scholar NCNA, July 31, 1952, ibid.; Jen-min Jih-pao (People's Daily) editorial, NCNA, 07 24, 1954, Survey of the China Mainland Press (SCMP) (Hong Kong: U.S. Consulate-General), No. 856, pp. 54–55.Google Scholar
5 See, for example, People's Daily editorial, NCNA, 02 15, 1955, CB, No. 314, p. 18; Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China (Peking: 1956), II, Speeches, pp. 29–30.Google Scholar
6 See, for example, Kung-jen Jih-pao (Daily Worker), 07 31, 1955, SCMP, No. 1163, p. 261.Google Scholar
7Cf. Raymond, L. Garthoff, “Sino-Soviet Military Relations,” The Annals (of the American Academy of Political and Social Science), 09 1963, pp. 84–85.Google Scholar
8 For an estimate of China's armed forces, see The Communist Bloc and the Western Alliances: The Military Balance 1962–1693 (London: The Institute for Strategic Studies, 1964), p. 8; The Christian Science Monitor, 02 21, 1964.Google Scholar
9Derk, Bodde, Peking Diary: A Year of Revolution (New York: 1950), pp. 117–118;Google ScholarNCNA, 12 1, 1950, SCMP, No. 21, pp. 13–14; People's Daily editorial, NCNAGoogle Scholar
10Communist China: Ruthless Enemy or Paper Tiger? (Department of the Army, Pam 20–61: 1962), Appendix G (Chinese Communist Military Organisation).Google Scholar
11Chung-kuo Ch'ing-nien Pao (The Chinese Youth Newspaper), 10 3, 1956, SCMP, No. 1416, pp. 7–8; NCNA, 03 16, 1958, SCMP, No. 1736 p. 2.Google Scholar
12 NCNA, February 9, 1955, CB, No. 312.Google Scholar
13 See Joffe, pp. 35–39.Google Scholar
14 Regulations, Articles 4, 7, 8.Google Scholar
15 Articles 11, 15, 17.Google Scholar
16 Article 24.Google Scholar
17Edgar, Snow, The Other Side of the River: Red China Today (New York: Random House, 1962), p. 289.Google Scholar
18 CB, No. 368, pp. 1–2.Google Scholar
19 CB, No. 344.Google Scholar
20The Communist Bloc and the Western Alliances, p. 8.Google Scholar
21Allen, S. Whiting, Contradictions in the Moscow-Peking Axis (Santa Monica: The RAND Corporation, RM-1992, 09 24, 1957), pp. 5–6.Google Scholar
22 No details are available, but the establishment of a Russian language school among the first Chinese military academies was probably in response to the pressing need for interpreters and for Russian-speaking Chinese officers in anticipation of their dispatch to the Soviet Union.Google Scholar
23 Here too no details are available, but in 1954, for example, it was reported in Hong Kong that twenty regimental staff officers had been sent to the Kiev staff school. Chiu, S. M., “The Chinese Communist Army in Transition,” Far Eastern Survey, Vol. XXVII, 10 1958, p. 171.Google Scholar
24 See, for example, Chieh-fang Chün Pao (Liberation Army News), June 16, 1959, Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS), No. 10343/59, p. 4; Liberation Army News editorial, 08 18, 1958, JPRS 10240/59, p. 40; Liberation Army News, 08 29, 1958, JPRS 10239/59, pp. 31–33.Google Scholar
25Alice, Langley Hsieh, Communist China's Strategy in the Nuclear Era (Englewood, New Jersey : Prentice-Hall, 1962), Chap. 2.Google Scholar
26Donald, W. Klein, “The ‘Next Generation’ of Chinese Communist Leaders,” The China Quarterly, No. 12, 10–12 1962, pp. 65–66.Google Scholar
27 See below.Google Scholar
28 For an attempt to identify issues with personalities see Hsieh, passim.Google Scholar
29 See, for example, People's Daily, 07 28, 1961, SCMP, No. 2556, p. 2.Google Scholar
30 See, for example, Lin, Piao, March Ahead Under the Red Flag of the Party's General Line and Mao Tse-tung's Military Thinking (Peking, 1959), p. 17.Google Scholar
31 Joffe, passim.Google Scholar
32 See, for example, a document prepared by the Academy of Military Sciences, Kung-tso T'ung-hsun (Bulletin of Activities),. No. 29, 08 1, 1961.Google Scholar In an excellent analysis of these documents Professor Ralph L. Powell points out that “they provide convincing evidence that previously published statements of doctrine have generally represented official policy, even when they have been considered to be unrealistic in the atomic age. … The doctrine still claims that the two basic and unchanging factors in war are the dominance of men and of politics. …” Ralph, L. Powell, Politico-Military Relationships in Communist China (Policy Research Study, External Research Staff, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, United States Department of State, 10 1963), p. 19.Google Scholar
33Liberation Army News editorial, 08 17, 1958, JPRS, No. 6471/59, p. 1.Google Scholar
34Liberation Army News, 08 29, 1958, JPRS, No. 10239/59, p. 31.Google Scholar
35 See, for example, Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, p. 264.Google Scholar
36 See, for example, People's Daily, 08 1, 1955, SCMP, No. 1106, pp. 4–9;Google ScholarLiberation Army News editorial, 08 18, 1958, JPRS, No. 10240/59, p. 42;Google ScholarLiberation Army News, 08 29, 1958, JPRS, 10239/59, p. 32.Google Scholar
37 See, for example, People's Daily, 08 1, 1955, SCMP, No. 1106, p. 7; NCNA, 05 12, 1957, SCMP, No. 1547, p. 27;Google ScholarLiberation Army News, 03 30, 1958, JPRS, No. 10239/59, p. 14.Google Scholar
38 See, for example, Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, pp. 32–33;Google ScholarBulletin, No. 3, 01 7, 1961.Google Scholar
39Liberation Army News editorial, 05 8, 1963, SCMP, No. 2984, p. 4.Google Scholar
40 See, for example, Liberation Army News editorial, 07 1, 1958, SCMP, No. 1881, p. 4;Google ScholarLiberation Army News editorial, 08 1, 1958, SCMP, No. 1881, p. 2; NCNA-English, Peking, 07 31, 1958, CB, No. 514, pp. 1–2;Google ScholarHsin Hunan Pao (New Hunan Daily), 10 22, 1959, SCMP, No. 2155, p. 11.Google Scholar
41 See, for example, Liberation Army News editorial, 08 18, 1958, JPRS, 10240/59, p. 40.Google Scholar
42Liberation Army News editorial, 07 1, 1958, SCMP, No. 1881, p. 4;Google ScholarLiberation Army News, 05 23, 1958, SCMP, No. 1900, p. 9;Google ScholarLiberation Army News, 06 16, 1958, JPRS, No. 10343/59, pp. 4–6;Google ScholarLiberation Army News, 09 4, 1958, JPRS, No. 10240/59, pp. 18–19.Google Scholar
43Bulletin, No. 23, 06 13, 1961, cited in Powell, p. 8;Google ScholarBulletin, No. 3, 01 7, 1961.Google Scholar
44 See, for example, Liberation Army News editorial, 07 1, 1958, SCMP, No. 1881, p. 4.Google Scholar
45 See, for example, Liberation Army News, 08 29, 1958, JPRS, 10239/59, pp. 31–32.Google Scholar
46 For a brief discussion of the army's non-military activities see Ellis Joffe, “The Communist Party and the Army,” Contemporary China, IV, 1961, pp. 55–59.Google Scholar
47 See, for example, Hung Ch'i (Red Flag), No. 15, 08 1, 1959,Google ScholarExtracts from China Mainland Magazines (ECMM) (Hong Kong: U.S. Consulate-General), No. 182, p. 7.Google Scholar
48 See, for example, NCNA, Peking, 04 25, 1959, CB, No. 579, p. 2.Google Scholar
49Cf. Ralph, L. Powell, “Everyone a Soldier—The Communist Chinese Militia,” Foreign Affairs, XXXIX, 10 1960, pp. 101–111.Google Scholar
50 NCNA, 12 31, 1958, SCMP, No. 1934, p. 10.Google Scholar
51 See, for example, Che-hsueh Yen-chiu, No. 1, 01 10, 1959, ECMM, No. 159, p. 29.Google Scholar
52 See, for example, Kiangsu Ch'ün-chung (Kiangsu Masses), No. 5, 10 1, 1958, ECMM, No. 150, p. 6.Google Scholar
53 The preceding section is drawn from Hsieh, Chap. 2.Google Scholar
54 Hsieh, pp. 76–96.Google Scholar
55Peking Review, No. 33, 08 16, 1963, p. 14.Google Scholar
56 Quoted in The New York Times, 09 14, 1963.Google Scholar
57Peking Review, No. 33, 08 16, 1963, p. 14.Google Scholar
58 See, for example, Liberation Army News editorial, 08 1, 1958, SCMP, No. 1881, p. 2;Google ScholarLiberation Army News editorial, 09 20, 1958, JPRS, No. 6471/59, pp. 21–24.Google Scholar
59David, A. Charles, “The Dismissal of Marshal P'eng Teh-huai,” The China Quarterly, No. 8, 10–12 1961, pp. 63–76.Google Scholar
60 In the Bulletin of Activities, P'eng and Huang were charged with representing the “military line of the propertied class,” supporting an “erroneous or false line” not in accordance with Mao's ideology (Bulletin, No. 3, 01 7, 1961; No. 1, 01 1, 1961, cited in Powell, p. 2), promoting “dogmatism,” “warlordism,” “feudalism” and a “simple military point of view.” They were blamed for disobeying the ideology and military thought of Mao while believing in and imitating foreign countries (Bulletin, No. 24, 06 18, 1961; No. 29, 08 1, 1961, cited in Powell). Criticisms which probably include P'eng and Huang attacked “unreasonable military systems and formalities” (Bulletin, No. 11, March 2, 1961, cited in Powell, In essence, as Powell observes, P'eng and Huang were accused of military professionalism .Google Scholar
61Bulletin, No. 1, 01 1, 1961; No. 7, 02 1, 1961.Google Scholar
62 Quoted in The New York Times, 09 14, 1963, and 02 7, 1964.Google Scholar
63 NCNA, 02 21, 1956, SCMP, No. 1241, p. 5; NCNA, 12 22, 1956, SCMP, No. 1455, p. 7.Google Scholar
64Liberation Army News, 01 12, 1957, SCMP, No. 1616, pp. 14–15.Google Scholar
65 NCNA, 05 12, 1957, SCMP, No. 1547, p. 27; NCNA, April 20, 1957, SCMP, No. 1524, p. 7.Google Scholar
66 This is also suggested by the fact that, as far as it is known, the anti-rightist campaign did not claim any important victims in the army—with one notable exception, Ch'en I, Director of the Cultural Department of the General Political Department, who was purged. See People's Daily, 03 1, 1958.Google Scholar
67Liberation Army News editorial, NCNA, 07 30, 1957, SCMP, No. 1588, p. 9.Google Scholar
68Liberation Army News, 01 16, 1958, SCMP, No. 1786, pp. 6–7, NCNA-English, 07 31, 1958.Google Scholar
69Liberation Army News, 01 16, 1958, SCMP, No. 1786, p. 7.Google Scholar
70 NCNA, 6 19, 1958, SCMP, No. 1802, p. 12;Google ScholarLiberation Army News, 06 24, 1958, SCMP, No. 1817, pp. 16–17;Google ScholarLiberation Army News, 05 5, 1958, JPRS, No. 10343/59, p. 39;Google ScholarLiberation Army News, 06 20, 1958, JPRS, No. 10239/59, p. 34;Google ScholarLiberation Army News, 08 8, 1958, JPRS, No. 10240/59, pp. 4–6.Google Scholar
71Bulletin, No. 23, 06 13, 1961, cited in Powell, p. 8.Google Scholar
72 NCNA, November 27, 1957, SCMP, No. 1668, pp. 18–19; also pp. 17, 19.Google Scholar
73Lanchow, , Kansu Jih-pao (Kansu Daily), 09 18, 1957, SCMP, No. 1626, pp. 24–25.Google Scholar
74Liberation Army News, 02 26, 1957, SCMP, No. 1625, p. 27.Google Scholar
75 NCNA, January 12, 1957, SCMP, No. 1460, pp. 9–10.Google Scholar
76 NCNA, June 14, 1957, SCMP, No. 1557, p. 6.Google Scholar
77 NCNA-English, September 21, 1958.Google Scholar
78People's Daily, 04 27, 1959, CB, No. 579, p. 5.Google Scholar
79People's Daily, 06 24, 1958, SCMP, No. 1812, p. 1.Google Scholar
80 Ibid.
81 Ibid.
82 See note 78, p. 6.Google Scholar
83 NCNA, October 19, 1958, SCMP, No. 1891, p. 3.Google Scholar
84 See, for example, note 78, pp. 6–8.Google Scholar
85 Ibid. pp. 7–8.
86Hung Ch'i (Red Flag), No. 4, 02 16, 1959, JPRS, No. 9176/59.Google Scholar
87Chiu, S. M., “The PLA and the Party: Recent Developments,” Military Review, XLIII, 06 1963, pp. 58–66;Google ScholarBulletin, No. 3, 01 7, 1961.Google Scholar
88Shih-shih Shou-ts'e (Current Handbook), No. 3, 02 6, 1959, ECMM, No. 167, p. 15.Google Scholar
89 NCNA-English, February 4, 1962.Google Scholar
90 For an illuminating report on the sorry state of the militia in Honan, see Bulletin, No. 4, 01 11, 1961.Google Scholar
91 NCNA, July 5, 1961, SCMP, No. 2540, pp. 1–3.Google Scholar
92 NCNA, November 21, 1961, SCMP, No. 2630, pp. 1–3.Google Scholar
93 The text of these Regulations has apparently not been made public. For a detailed description of their content, see Liberation Army News editorial, 05 8, 1963 (reprinted in the People's Daily), SCMP, No. 2984, pp. 1–8.Google Scholar
94 The 1954 draft has been referred to several times, but apparently it has not been made public.Google Scholar
95 Note 92, p. 3.Google Scholar
96 United States Department of State press release, August 20, 1963: The Military Balance 1963–1964 (London: Institute for Strategic Studies, 1963), p. 9.Google Scholar
97The New York Times, 12 4, 1963, and 03 1, 1964;Google ScholarThe Christian Science Monitor, 02 21, 1964.Google Scholar
98The Christian Science Monitor, 02 24, 1964;Google ScholarThe New York Times, 12 27, 1963.Google Scholar
99 See, for example, Far Eastern Economic Review, 02 13, 1964.Google Scholar