Minister of National Defense (China)

Historically, both the position and the ministry carried greater power.{{Cite news |last=Zheng |first=William |date=25 October 2023 |title=Why the role of Chinese defence minister isn't exactly what it sounds like |work=South China Morning Post |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3239179/why-role-chinese-defence-minister-isnt-exactly-what-it-sounds |access-date=25 October 2023}} In the first decades of the PRC, the ministry included several more departments, all overseen by vice ministers. The minister was held by influential generals, including Peng Dehuai, Lin Biao and Ye Jianying.

The ministry was reformed into its current state in the 1982 constitutional revision. Between 1982 and 2008, the minister usually concurrently served as a vice chairman of the CMC, and was usually a member of the CCP Politburo. In addition, all ministers of National Defense would also be appointed as the state councillor, a position in the State Council newly established in 1982 consisting of high-ranking officeholders. And since all defense ministers are members of the CMC, in official state rhetoric, the ministers of National Defense is to be referred to as the "State Councillor and Minister of National Defense".{{efn|({{Zh|s=国务委员兼国防部长}}). Sometimes with their respective position in the CMC added prior to it, in the form of "Vice Chairman (or Member) of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China, State Councillor and Minister of National Defense".{{Cite web |title=People's Republic of China Defense Minister visits Singapore |url=https://www.mindef.gov.sg/web/portal/mindef/news-and-events/latest-releases/article-detail/2011/may/2011may16-news-releases-00636/!ut/p/z1/tVPLcuIwEPyWHHwUGhtj2XtzHgVJ8UgI4aHLlrCFrcSWiK3gwNfvALuHVBaoPaxOo1G3elrVopzOKddiozJhldGiwP2CBz_Z6PamB743HHUmLsTTyaTfuR7ev7CATimnfJ2olC4SrxOE4conXuIz4kdLl0RhGpI08BO29JhkibtHJ9qubU4XpdKpXJHEaCu1dSA3pXRAy6YmQqdEbrBbO1AIK2tLKllIUUtseOC6DpRieyyxcANyoP3BEICgHdDZpeE5HsOJFcNv_ujJ77o-eP3RYNxBfhSFE3j0oMsO_DPXH_lnBC7y-QFyboJLHvhZkTH7JjHtMgQ83gcP0bMLd226QBfs9JiMzjZKNvRFm6rExDz_YyB6QB8uPQSmUL2-v_MYw7NPy6el8_-eHhT1qsHNIEM7wuZE6ZWh8z0HxcX2WJ6mo6msMMvjH4r1sh3iRZVcyUpWrY8K27m16_qHAw40TdPKjMkK2UpM6cDfKLmp0fVXJF2XZdjeKkXexr3d9ZB0Z2Hd2_XlLL66-gVNHlkw/dz/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/ |access-date=2024-06-30 |website=www.mindef.gov.sg |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Tsou |first1=Benjamin K. |last2=Lai |first2=Tom B. Y. |last3=Chow |first3=Ka-po |date=2005 |chapter=Comparing Entropies within the Chinese Language |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-540-30211-7_49 |title=Natural Language Processing – IJCNLP 2004 |series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science |volume=3248 |pages=473–474 |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-30211-7_49 |isbn=978-3-540-24475-2 |via=Springer}}{{Cite web |last=Jiang Chenglong |date=2023-08-17 |title=Minister: China committed to safeguarding world peace |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202308/17/WS64dceb7aa31035260b81c88b.html |access-date=2024-06-30 |website=China Daily}}}} After 2008, holders of the position stopped serving concurrently as a CMC vice chair, further weakening the position.

Among all its officeholders, Geng Biao was the only defence minister with a civil background, having no military rank of the PLA, neither was he a member thereof. Nonetheless, Geng did serve in the Red Army long before PLA’s foundation. With the exception of the aforementioned officeholder, all defence ministers in prior to Wei Fenghe came from the PLA Ground Force. In addition, current officeholder is yet to be appointed as a state councillor, making it the only exception to the aforementioned co-serving norm.{{Cite web |title=中华人民共和国国务院 |url=https://www.gov.cn/gwyzzjg/zuzhi/ |access-date=2024-06-30 |website=gov.cn |language=zh}}

Notably, under the tenure of the President and CMC Chairman Xi Jinping, a series of major military scandals occurred from 2023 to June 2024, which eventually saw two of his former defence ministers, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, expelled from the CCP, with their military titles revoked.{{cite web |date=2024-06-27 |title=China's Communist Party expels former defence ministers Li Shangfu, Wei Fenghe for corruption |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-former-defence-ministers-li-shangfu-wei-fenghe-expelled-bribery-communist-party-4439876 |access-date=2024-06-27 |newspaper=Channel NewsAsia}} Prior to this, Li was removed from the office only a couple of months after his appointment in March 2023, causing the position to be briefly vacant from October.{{cite news |title=China officially expels Li Shangfu as defense minister |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/China-officially-expels-Li-Shangfu-as-defense-minister |access-date=5 November 2023 |work=Nikkei Asia}} This was until Admiral Dong Jun was appointed into the office in December of the same year, making Dong the first PLA Navy officer to become the defence minister. Besides, the PLA Rocket Force, in which Wei was a member, also saw a purge that year, with corruption investigating taking place.{{Cite web |title=The Shakeup in China's Rocket Force Continues |url=https://thediplomat.com/2024/01/the-shakeup-in-chinas-rocket-force-continues/ |access-date=2024-06-30 |website=thediplomat.com |language=en-US}}

Officially, the minister is nominated by the premier of the State Council, who is then approved by the National People's Congress or its Standing Committee and appointed by the president.{{Cite web |title=Constitution of the People's Republic of China |url=http://www.npc.gov.cn/englishnpc/constitution2019/201911/1f65146fb6104dd3a2793875d19b5b29.shtml |access-date=2022-08-08 |website=National People's Congress}}

The military is under the governance of the CMC, putting the Ministry of National Defense out of the chain of command,{{Cite web |last=Morris |first=Lyle J. |date=27 October 2022 |title=What China's New Central Military Commission Tells Us About Xi's Military Strategy |url=https://asiasociety.org/policy-institute/what-chinas-new-central-military-commission-tells-us-about-xis-military-strategy |access-date=2023-09-18 |website=Asia Society |language=en}} the minister is significantly less powerful than his counterparts from other countries, and has no direct command function over the military.{{Cite news |last1=Torode |first1=Greg |last2=Tian |first2=Yew Lun |date=2023-09-18 |title=China's military hierarchy under spotlight after defence minister disappears |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-military-hierarchy-under-spotlight-after-defence-minister-disappears-2023-09-18/ |access-date=2023-09-18}} The post is generally seen as a diplomatic and ceremonial role, with the minister handling military-to-military ties with other countries.{{Cite news |date=15 September 2023 |title=The mystery surrounding China's missing defence minister |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/china/2023/09/15/the-mystery-surrounding-chinas-missing-defence-minister |access-date=2023-09-18 |issn=0013-0613}} However, until the appointment of the current incumbent, Admiral Dong Jun, the office has always been held by a member of the CMC.{{Cite news |last=Liu |first=Zhen |date=18 October 2022 |title=What is China's Central Military Commission and why is it so powerful? |work=South China Morning Post |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3196360/what-chinas-central-military-commission-and-why-it-so-powerful |access-date=18 September 2023}} Though the minister has historically been assisted by vice ministers, the ministry currently has no vice ministers.

{{Officeholder table start|showorder=y|showimage=y|officeholder_title=Minister|showtermlenght=y|showparty=n|showdefencebranch=y}}

{{Officeholder table|order=1|image=General Peng Dehuai.jpg|military_rank=Marshal|officeholder=Peng Dehuai
彭德怀|officeholder_sort=Dehuai, Peng|officeholder_note=|born_year=1898|died_year=1974|term_start=28 September 1954|term_end=17 September 1959|timeinoffice={{Age in years and days|1954|9|28|1959|4|17}}|defence_branch={{army|China|name=PLA Ground Force}}}}

{{Officeholder table|order=2|image=Lin Biao.jpg|military_rank=Marshal|officeholder=Lin Biao
林彪|officeholder_sort=Biao, Lin|officeholder_note=|born_year=1907|died_year=1971|term_start=17 September 1959|term_end=13 September 1971|timeinoffice={{Age in years and days|1959|4|17|1971|9|13}}|defence_branch={{army|China|name=PLA Ground Force}}}}

|- style="text-align:center;"

|colspan=7|Vacant
13 September 1971 – 17 January 1975

|-

{{Officeholder table|order=3|image=Ye Jianying.jpg|military_rank=Marshal|officeholder=Ye Jianying
叶剑英|officeholder_sort=Jianying, Ye|officeholder_note=|born_year=1897|died_year=1986|term_start=17 January 1975|term_end=26 February 1978|timeinoffice={{Age in years and days|1975|1|17|1978|2|26}}|defence_branch={{army|China|name=PLA Ground Force}}}}

{{Officeholder table|order=4|image=Xu Xiangqian.jpg|military_rank=Marshal|officeholder=Xu Xiangqian
徐向前|officeholder_sort=Xiangqian, Xu|officeholder_note=|born_year=1901|died_year=1990|term_start=26 February 1978|term_end=6 March 1981|timeinoffice={{Age in years and days|1978|3|26|1981|3|6}}|defence_branch={{army|China|name=PLA Ground Force}}}}

{{Officeholder table|order=5|image=Geng Biao 1949.jpg|military_rank=|officeholder=Geng Biao
耿飚|officeholder_sort=Biao, Geng|officeholder_note=|born_year=1909|died_year=2000|term_start=6 March 1981|term_end=19 November 1982|timeinoffice={{Age in years and days|1981|3|6|1982|6|19}}|defence_branch=None{{efn|Formerly 22pxChinese Red Army}}}}

{{Officeholder table|order=6|image=Zhang Aiping.jpg|military_rank=General|officeholder=Zhang Aiping
张爱萍|officeholder_sort=Aiping, Zhang|officeholder_note=|born_year=1910|died_year=2003|term_start=19 November 1982|term_end=12 April 1988|timeinoffice={{Age in years and days|1982|11|19|1988|4|12}}|defence_branch={{army|China|name=PLA Ground Force}}}}

{{Officeholder table|order=7|image=Qin-Jiwei-1955.jpg|military_rank=General|officeholder=Qin Jiwei
秦基伟|officeholder_sort=Jiwei, Qin|officeholder_note=|born_year=1914|died_year=1997|term_start=12 April 1988|term_end=29 March 1993|timeinoffice={{Age in years and days|1988|4|12|1993|3|29}}|defence_branch={{army|China|name=PLA Ground Force}}}}

{{Officeholder table|order=8|image=Chi Haotian.jpg|military_rank=General|officeholder=Chi Haotian
迟浩田|officeholder_sort=Haotian, Chi|officeholder_note=|born_year=1929|died_year=|term_start=29 March 1993|term_end=17 March 2003|timeinoffice={{Age in years and days|1993|3|29|2003|3|17}}|defence_branch={{army|China|name=PLA Ground Force}}}}

{{Officeholder table|order=9|image=Cao Gangchuan 071105-D-7203T-005 0Y2A3.jpg|military_rank=General|officeholder=Cao Gangchuan
曹刚川|officeholder_sort=Gangchuan, Cao|officeholder_note=|born_year=1935|died_year=|term_start=17 March 2003|term_end=17 March 2008|timeinoffice={{Age in years and days|2003|3|17|2008|3|17}}|defence_branch={{army|China|name=PLA Ground Force}}}}

{{Officeholder table|order=10|image=Liang Guanglie 2012.jpg|military_rank=General|officeholder=Liang Guanglie
梁光烈|officeholder_sort=Guanglie, Liang|officeholder_note=|born_year=1940|died_year=2024|term_start=17 March 2008|term_end=16 March 2013|timeinoffice={{Age in years and days|2008|3|17|2013|3|17}}|defence_branch={{army|China|name=PLA Ground Force}}}}

{{Officeholder table|order=11|image=Chang Wanquan Senate of Poland.JPG|military_rank=General|officeholder=Chang Wanquan
常万全|officeholder_sort=Wanquan, Chang|officeholder_note=|born_year=1949|died_year=|term_start=16 March 2013|term_end=19 March 2018|timeinoffice={{Age in years and days|2013|3|16|2018|3|19}}|defence_branch={{army|China|name=PLA Ground Force}}}}

{{Officeholder table|order=12|image=Wei Fenghe 2018.jpg|military_rank=General{{efn|name=revoked_202406|revoked in June 2024{{cite web |date=2024-06-27 |title=China's Communist Party expels former defence ministers Li Shangfu, Wei Fenghe for corruption |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-former-defence-ministers-li-shangfu-wei-fenghe-expelled-bribery-communist-party-4439876 |access-date=2024-06-27 |newspaper=Channel NewsAsia}}}}|officeholder=Wei Fenghe
魏凤和|officeholder_sort=Fenghe, Wei|officeholder_note=|born_year=1954|died_year=|term_start=19 March 2018|term_end=12 March 2023|timeinoffice={{Age in years and days|2018|03|19|2023|03|12}}|defence_branch={{flagicon image|Rocket Force Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg|size=23px}} PLA Rocket Force}}

{{Officeholder table|order=13|image=Li Shangfu (cropped).jpg|military_rank=General{{efn|name=revoked_202406}}|officeholder=Li Shangfu
李尚福|officeholder_sort=Shangfu, Li|officeholder_note=|born_year=1958|died_year=|term_start=12 March 2023|term_end=24 October 2023|timeinoffice={{Age in years and days |2023|03|12|2023|10|24}}|defence_branch={{flagicon image|Emblem of People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force.png|size=23px}} PLA Strategic Support Force}}

|- style="text-align:center;"

|colspan=7|Vacant
24 October – 29 December 2023

|-

{{Officeholder table|order=14|image= Dong_Jun_(2024)_(cropped)_1.jpg |military_rank=Admiral|officeholder=Dong Jun
董军|officeholder_sort=Jun, Dong|officeholder_note=|born_year=1961|died_year=|term_start=29 December 2023|term_end=Incumbent|timeinoffice={{Age in years and days |2023|12|29}}|defence_branch={{flagicon image|Naval Ensign of China.svg|size=23px}} PLA Navy}}

{{Officeholder table end}}

{{notelist}}

{{Ministers of National Defense of the People's Republic of China}}{{People's Liberation Army}}{{Portal bar|China|Politics}}

Category:1954 establishments in China

Category:Ministry of National Defense (PRC)

Category:Provincial and ministerial-level official