Explainer | Why the role of Chinese defence minister isn’t exactly what it sounds like
- China’s first few defence ministers enjoyed more influence and much higher profiles
- In the past few decades, the role has been redefined and its responsibilities reshuffled
How is the role different in China？
Unlike its counterparts in the United States and other Western countries, China’s defence minister is considered primarily as a public representative of the armed forces, both within China and abroad.
The role is also responsible for defence mobilisation and national defence education. The actual command power is in the hands of the Central Military Commission (CMC), which is chaired by President Xi Jinping.
Li, who was also stripped of his membership of the CMC, was the fourth highest ranking member in the seven-seat body, behind Xi, the commission’s deputy chairman Zhang Youxia, and He Weidong.
The command, training, logistics, recruitment and ideology work of the world’s second largest military fall under other departments in the military, whose heads are also members of the CMC.
Ranked behind the minister of defence are the CMC Joint Staff Department’s chief of staff, Liu Zhenli, political work chief Miao Hua, and military disciplinary head Zhang Shengming.
