context: State media signals the People's Liberation Army anti-corruption campaign will continue. Xi Jinping 习近平 recently removed two top-level military commanders simultaneously following earlier mass removal in the Rocket Force: Zhang Youxia 张又侠 the top military commander just after Xi, and Liu Zhenli 刘振立 the Joint Staff Department. All removals cited corruption.
In Liberation Army Daily, Ren Long 任龙 PLA (People's Liberation Army) National Defence University Political College, stating 'remaining corruption has not been thoroughly eliminated. Political rectification is urgently needed to eradicate the soil in which corruption breeds'.
Ren prioritises political loyalty above all else. He frames the PLA as the armed instrument executing the Party's political tasks, asserting that 'politics always comes first'.
Quoting Xi Jinping 习近平, the piece establishes the framework
- 'political nature is the military's essential attribute'
- 'building the military must first be viewed politically'
- 'a strong military must first be politically strong: political strength is the most fundamental strength'
Political strength, Ren specifies, means strict adherence to political discipline. The PLA's highest political discipline and rules are
- unwavering defence of absolute Party leadership over the military
- resolute implementation of the Chair Responsibility System
- all actions must obey the Central Committee, the Central Military Commission and Xi's command
The commentary directs all personnel, especially leading cadres, to 'earnestly safeguard the solemnity and authority of political discipline and rules' and 'resolutely struggle against all persons and matters that neglect politics'. The objective is to ensure absolute Party leadership over the PLA and guarantee 'the gun barrel forever obeys the Party's command'.