China’s National Security Commission: theory, evolution and operations

Abstract: The establishment of the National Security Commission (NSC) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is a major regrouping of the top CCP power structure, a ‘New Deal’ in Xi Jinping’s endeavor to revitalize China. In full operation it will reshape Beijing’s national security (NS) decision-making process concerning the formulation of national security strategies, crisis management at home and abroad, coordination of national security policies and actions by Party/army/state agencies and institutional links with its foreign national security counterparts. This article argues that the NSC will primarily address the Party’s internal security concerns, which is the key link to its efforts to strike a new balance between various security typologies. It analyses Beijing’s securitization guidance and practice and constructs its organizational structure and functions.