The People's Liberation Army. (AP)

The close ties between the Party and the military date back to the Communist independence movement, but became particularly acute after the late 1950s and early 1960s, when Chairman Mao Zedong infiltrated PLA ranks with Party members.

Mao, like other leaders after him, used the military to enforce his own policy dictates. In 1968, he sent the PLA into the schools to disarm and re-educate warring factions of the Red Guards. Similarly in 1989, Deng Xiaoping ordered the military into Tiananmen Square to crush a student and worker protest – a move that resulted in the deaths of thousands.

"We cannot say that there is no chance [China] will be a serious military power after 10 years." – Hisahiko Okazaki, former Japanese ambassador to Thailand.

In Asia, the military remains a formidable force, despite having had its ranks reduced by about one million since the mid-1980s. The PLA oversees a defense budget of about $40 billion, which includes a stockpile of nuclear warheads, chemical, and biological weapons, and ballistic and cruise missiles.

In the past, Chinese leaders have expressed little reticence in using this military muscle to intimidate the rest of Asia. In the 1990s, China was involved in a number of skirmishes (with several countries) over its claims in the South China Sea and Senkaku Islands. In 1996, China test-fired missiles into two of Taiwan's busiest ports during the closing days of the island's first presidential election – a sign of its increasing unhappiness with the trends of independence there.

The PLA's role as a supplier of military and technical assistance is also troubling to many Western observers. Before its 1992 accession to the Nonproliferation Treaty, China was known to have supplied assistance to Pakistan's nuclear weapons program. China also has provided equipment, materials, and technology for Iran's chemical warfare and ballistic missile programs. Analysts say such sales provide a major source of revenue for China's defense budget, which has been cut in recent years.

Still, perhaps the biggest area of PLA influence these days is economic. In the mid-1980s, the military was given relatively free reign to exploit its political clout by forging business links with foreign companies wanting to do business in China. Since that time, with the recent relaxation of investment and trade guidelines, the military has literally cashed in on a huge boom.

The PLA controls a sprawling network of an estimated 15,000 businesses, which run airlines, manage hotels, and oversee several of the country's biggest textile and pharmaceutical manufacturers. While many businesses are seemingly benign – PLA-backed companies have been accused of counterfeiting compact discs and software, and selling weapons of mass destruction to rogue countries. Official estimates have put PLA profits well in excess of $1 billion-a-year.

In July 1998, President Jiang Zemin ordered the PLA to relinquish its massive network of commercial enterprises – part of country's campaign to fight rampant smuggling. Details regarding Jiang's order were not immediately available. But analysts say the Chinese president was attempting to stem the smuggling by PLA-run businesses – whose trucks don't pay tolls and don't get stopped by police. – Tim Ito, washingtonpost.com staffer