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China General Political Department
The General Political Department was responsible for
ideological indoctrination, political loyalty, morale, personnel
records, cultural activities, discipline, and military justice, and
it provided the party structure for the PLA. It also published
Jiefangjun Bao (Liberation Army Daily), the PLA's
influential newspaper. The General Political Department director
was at the head of a system of political commissars assigned to
each echelon in the PLA. One of the primary tasks of the political
commissar was the supervision of the party organization through
party committees at the battalion level and above or through party
branches in companies. Virtually all high-ranking officers in the
military were party members. Until the early 1980s, when party
membership in the PLA was restricted, an effort was made to have a
party or Communist Youth League member in every unit down to the
smallest maneuver element. Political commissars were equal in rank
and authority to the commander of their echelon in peacetime but
theoretically deferred to the commander during war. Commissars
assumed many time-consuming chores, such as personnel problems,
relations with civilians, and troop entertainment.
Data as of July 1987
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