Abstract: After the Tax Reform in China， the income of the township governments in Western and Central China （TGWCs） relies mostly on budgetary transactions and their power has been partially taken back by their authorities. These measures have greatly shrunken the autonomicspace of these TGWCs， whose previous primary income source was agricultural revenues. Even under such institutional pressure and in such difficult financial and administrative situations， TGWCs are still expected to accomplish the goals set by their superiorities. Thus， TGWCs inevitably have to create an autonomicspace for themselves. According to the author’s indepth interviews with some township government officials in County Y， Hebei Province， this paper describes how some of the TGWCs in Western and Central China have tried to establish their autonomicspace within the “sandwiches”. The investigation has revealed the following common features of successful TGWCs： the township government officials’ informed selectivity； reduced job scopes； autonomicspace creation in the interactive relationships to the governments at the county level （characterized of both dependency and soft resistance）； autonomicspace expansion in the interactive relationships to the villagers at the grass roots when strategically mobilizing and utilizing all types of powers； and formation of an active and effective system， and even an office culture， to ensure a success in the assessment by their authorities. Thus， TGWCs’ autonomicspace is created.

Key words: autonomicspace, tactics of power, township governments in Western and Central China （TGWCs）