 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
There are about two dozen organizations within China that play some role in formulating Chinese positions on arms control and non-proliferation. Notably absent is any single organization dedicated to verification technologies or procedures, although several institutes now have departments or programs focused on verification. The prestige and influence of the various organizations connected to arms control continues to shift. This is partly because the field is new, and partly due to the fact that in China personal prestige is often much more important than institutional affiliation; a single individual can change the status of an institution. The units that have some role in formulating policy can be assigned to one of several categories: academic think tanks, ministerial level bodies, departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, units involved in nuclear weapons research and production, departments of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), industrial ministries, and mass organizations. The PLA weighs in heavily on decisions that commit China to reductions or restrictions in the use of weapons it considers necessary for China's national security.
Until recently, each of the organizations described in this primer operated in a "stovepipe" fashion, reporting directly up to the senior leadership with relatively little horizontal integration. However, in recent years international contact has had a measurable effect on the Chinese approach to arms control. The desire to receive foreign visitors has forced individuals to come together from across the bureaucracy. This cross-fertilization began in 1988 with the first National Academy of Science/Committee on International Security and Arms Control talks with the Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP). The Chinese who meet with the Committee on International Security and Arms Control (CISAC) have now formed a small arms control policy group, known as the Arms Control Scientists Group, which holds quarterly meetings. Activities with foreigners have also provided a format for including some of the young scholars and analysts who would otherwise have difficulty crossing organizational lines and getting visibility within the system. In addition, interaction with foreign experts has increased the importance of arms control as a field, resulting in more professional competence in the subject and less likelihood of disagreement due to misunderstandings or misperceptions.
A. Academic Think Tanks
B. Ministerial Level Organizations
C. People's Liberation Army (PLA)
D. Weapons Research and Development
Complex
E. Mass Organizations
F. Organizations Responsible for Export
Controls
Chinese Arms Control Organizations: A Basic Primer
Originally compiled by:
Wendy Frieman,
Director of the Asia Technology Project,
Science
Applications International Corporation
Revised and updated by:
East Asia Nonproliferation Project,
Center for Nonproliferation Studies,
Monterey Institute of International Studies
Updated 04/28/2003
This
material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin
Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of
International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the
opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or
its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2007 by
MIIS.
