Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China
中华人民共和国国防部 Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Guófángbù | |
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![]() Ministry of National Defense HQ, Beijing | |
Agency overview | |
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Formed | 28 September 1954 |
Type | Constituent Department of the State Council (cabinet-level executive department) |
Headquarters | Fuxing Road, Beijing 39°54′28″N 116°19′15″E / 39.90778°N 116.32083°ECoordinates: 39°54′28″N 116°19′15″E / 39.90778°N 116.32083°E |
Agency executive |
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Parent agency | State Council Central Military Commission |
Website | www.mod.gov.cn (in English) |
Politics of China |
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The Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China (simplified Chinese: 中华人民共和国国防部; traditional Chinese: 中華人民共和國國防部; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Guófángbù), or the "National Defense Ministry" (simplified Chinese: 国防部; traditional Chinese: 國防部; pinyin: Guófángbù) for short, is the second-ranked cabinet level executive department under the State Council. It is headed by the Minister of National Defense.
The MND was set up according to a decision adopted by the 1st Session of the 1st National People's Congress in 1954. In contrast to practice in other nations, the MND does not exercise command authority over the People's Liberation Army (PLA), which is instead subordinate to the Central Military Commission (CMC). Instead, the MND itself only serves as liaison body representing the CMC and PLA when dealing with foreign militaries in military exchange and cooperation.
Its official responsibilities had been to exercise unified administration over the development of the armed forces of the country such as recruitment, organization, equipment, training, scientific military research of the PLA and the ranking and remuneration of the officers and servicemen. However, in reality these responsibilities are carried out by the CMC's 15 departments.
Structure[]
There are very few departments under the Ministry of National Defense and actually operated by the CMC departments.
- Information Bureau
- International Communications Bureau
- Foreign Affairs Office
- Peacekeeping Office
- Peacekeeping Affairs Centre
- Mobilisation Office
Minister[]
Although the Ministry itself does not exercise much authority, the role of the Minister of National Defense has always been viewed as one of the most important positions in the country's political system. The position of Minister has always been given to an active military officer (with the exception of Geng Biao), a State Councilor and a member of the Communist Party's Central Committee and member (sometimes a Vice Chairman) of the Central Military Commission, enabling him to take part in the decision making in the PLA, the Government and the Party.
List of Defense Ministers[]
No. | Portrait | Minister | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
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1 | Marshal Peng Dehuai 彭德怀 (1898–1974) | 28 September 1954 | 17 September 1959 | 4 years, 6 months | |
2 | Lin Biao 林彪 (1907–1971) | Marshal17 September 1959 | 13 September 1971 | 12 years, 4 months | |
Vacant 1971–75 | |||||
3 | Ye Jianying 叶剑英 (1897–1986) | Marshal17 January 1975 | 26 February 1978 | 3 years, 1 month | |
4 | Xu Xiangqian 徐向前 (1901–1990) | Marshal26 February 1978 | 6 March 1981 | 2 years, 11 months | |
5 | Geng Biao 耿飚 (1909–2000) | 6 March 1981 | 19 November 1983 | 2 years, 3 months | |
6 | General Zhang Aiping 张爱萍 (1910–2003) | 19 November 1982 | 12 April 1988 | 5 years, 4 months | |
7 | Qin Jiwei 秦基伟 (1914–1997) | General12 April 1988 | 29 March 1993 | 4 years, 11 months | |
8 | Chi Haotian 迟浩田 (born 1929) | General29 March 1993 | 17 March 2003 | 9 years, 11 months | |
9 | Cao Gangchuan 曹刚川 (born 1935) | General17 March 2003 | 17 March 2008 | 5 years | |
10 | Liang Guanglie 梁光烈 (born 1940) | General17 March 2008 | 16 March 2013 | 5 years | |
11 | Chang Wanquan 常万全 (born 1949) | General16 March 2013 | 19 March 2018 | 5 years | |
12 | Wei Fenghe 魏凤和 (born 1954) | General19 March 2018 | Incumbent | 3 years, 168 days |
See also[]
- State Council of the People's Republic of China
- Central Military Commission (China)
- Defense diplomacy
References[]
- "Ministry of National Defence". SinoDefence.com. Archived from the original on 2007-11-09. Retrieved 2007-11-21.
External links[]
- Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China (Chinese)
- Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China (English)
- 中国军网
- China Military Online sponsored by the PLA Daily
- Military of the People's Republic of China
- Government ministries of the People's Republic of China
- Defence ministries
- Ministries established in 1954