With the expansion of China's international status and influence, Xi Jinping has established the National Security Commission (NSC), a new command tower of the Communist Party and the state's internal security-related systems based on Xi’s ‘Overal...
With the expansion of China's international status and influence, Xi Jinping has established the National Security Commission (NSC), a new command tower of the Communist Party and the state's internal security-related systems based on Xi’s ‘Overall National Security Outlook.’ With the new NSC, China aims to strategically cope with the complex and dynamic domestic and foreign security environment and threats. It differentiates itself apart from NSCs in other countries because it is installed within the party, not in the government, as a veiled ‘Black Box’ to oversee domestic and foreign security affairs.
This paper seeks to identify the roles and status of National Security Commission by examining its background, purpose, functions and features, and analyze the NSC from the perspective of historical institutionalism.
According to the historical context, the National Security Commission was established as a ‘Commission’, which is a form developed from Leading Small Groups (領導小組). The LSGs are coordinating bodies that have existed in China’s party-state political system since the Communist Party of China (CPC) was created. Unlike Small Groups (小組), which has a temporary, unofficial nature and only performs communication and cooperation, the commission is a permanent body that oversees various ministries and small groups within China’s party-state system as the ‘Second official system.’ The commission also has decision-making as well as coordination authorities, and it serves to strengthen the party’s unified leadership through the top-level design. In addition, external factors such as evolving U.S.-China relations and domestic security challenges combined with Xi Jinping's awareness of vulnerabilities in the current national security system have affected the Supreme Leader’s actions and interest to setup a new national security commission. Through this system, Xi Jinping aims to modernize national defense and military to realize China’s dream, consolidate the rule of the Communist Party, and finally concentrate the power in Xi Jinping alone.