Chinese President Jiang Zemin has appointed a three-man 'leading group' to run the day-to-day affairs of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), a move viewed as an attempt to centralise powers.

"The informal, high-level body consists of the chief of the general armament department, first vice-chief of staff and first vice-chief political commissar," Tte South China Morning Post said on Wednesday.
“While the two most senior men in uniform, Generals Zhang Wannian and Chi Haotian, have not retired, the two vice-chairmen of the Central Military Commission (CMC) have delegated most of their administrative responsibilities to the three up-and-coming officers,” the report quoting a PLA source said.

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“Jiang, also CMC chairman, indicated earlier this year that, for the sake of stability, senior cadres such as politburo members and military commission members should serve until 2002,” the PLA source said.

“Being the proteges of Jiang, the Communist Party general-secretary, generals Zhang and Chi have indicated support for the changes,” the report said.

Bureau Report