ABSTRACT
The question of China’s civil-military relations has interested many people in the mid-1980s. On the one hand, we witnessed the successful removal by the civilian leaders of eight out of eleven military region (MR) commanders, who were retired or transferred in June 1985, and further, in September, after a special party conference, six out of nine military men on the Politburo resigned. It is noteworthy that even the veteran commander of the Shenyang MR, Li Te-sheng, was dismissed first from the post of commander, then from the Politburo. Li had been stationed in Shenyang for more than ten years and was called the king of Manchuria by some China watchers. Therefore, the 1985 military personnel reshuffle can be regarded as a victory won by civilian leaders to uphold civilian supremacy over the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
