"The Silent Service: Assessing PLAN Influence in the Central Military Commission" - by CWP alum Joel Wuthnow
- Despite its impressive expansion, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is more of a "decision-taker" than a "decision-maker," with its growth driven by top-down political directives from leaders like Xi Jinping rather than by its own institutional influence.
- The PLAN's bureaucratic influence within the high command remains modest, with minimal representation on the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) or in its subordinate departments.
- The PLA Army (PLAA) continues to dominate top leadership and management roles, limiting the navy's ability to compete for resources and influence key decisions despite a strategic shift toward the maritime domain.
- Career progression for rising naval officers prioritizes operational experience at sea over joint duty assignments within the CMC bureaucracy, making such influential staff roles unattractive and further weakening the navy's voice at the top.
- Due to its limited lobbying power, the navy has had to accept CMC policies that reduce its autonomy and capabilities, such as transferring land-based aircraft to the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) and patrol ships to the China Coast Guard (CCG).
Shen, Natalie and Wuthnow, Joel, "China Maritime Report #56: The Silent Service: Assessing PLAN Influence in the Central Military Commission" (2026). CMSI China Maritime Reports. 56.
https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cmsi-maritime-reports/56
Dr. Joel Wuthnow is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University. His research areas include Chinese foreign and security policy, Chinese military affairs, U.S.-China relations, and strategic developments in East Asia.
His recent books and monographs include China’s Quest for Military Supremacy (Polity, 2025, with Phillip C. Saunders), Taming the Hegemon: Chinese Thinking on Countering U.S. Military Intervention in Asia (NDU Press, 2025), Sea Dragons: Special Operations and Chinese Military Strategy (Naval War College Press, 2025, with John Chen), Crossing the Strait: China’s Military Prepares for War with Taiwan (NDU Press, 2022, lead editor), and Gray Dragons: Assessing China's Senior Military Leadership (NDU Press, 2022). His research and commentary has also appeared in outlets such as Asia Policy, Asian Security, China Leadership Monitor, The China Quarterly, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Global Asia, Joint Force Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary China, Journal of Strategic Studies, Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, Naval War College Review, The New York Times, and in edited volumes.
Prior to joining NDU, Dr. Wuthnow was a China analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses, a postdoctoral fellow in the China and the World Program at Princeton University, and a pre-doctoral fellow at The Brookings Institution. His degrees are from Princeton University (A.B., summa cum laude, in Public and International Affairs), Oxford University (M.Phil. in Modern Chinese Studies), and Columbia University (Ph.D. in Political Science). He is proficient in Mandarin.
Photo Credit: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cmsi-maritime-reports/56/
