Anti-graft drive will go on as China can’t afford to lose corruption battle: PLA Daily

The flagship mouthpiece of the People's Liberation Army dismissed speculation the graft crackdown in the military was on its last legs and accused interest groups of standing in the way.

In a rare candid commentary, the PLA Daily said that a proper understanding of the campaign was needed if the "pernicious influence" of former Central Military Commission vice-chairman Xu Caihou was to be eradicated.

It pointed to misperceptions within the army and the public about whether the drive could continue or might lose the support of rank-and-file officers. There were now two opposing sides in the campaign, which had reached a critical point, and the military should know there wouldn't be any let-up in the fight.

"If even big tigers like Zhou Yongkang and Xu Caihou have been investigated, who can't be investigated?" said the commentary, titled "The war against corruption cannot be lost".

Xu was investigated for bribery in March and expelled from the Communist Party in June. Zhou, a former security chief and member of the Politburo Standing Committee, was also expelled and will soon face prosecution on graft charges.

A retired senior colonel in Beijing who didn't want to be named said the commentary hinted that the campaign to clean up the military would temporarily shift focus from big "tigers" - President Xi Jinping's term for powerful officials - to the middle and lower ranks, where graft would be more difficult to wipe out as it was commonplace. They were like "cockroaches and flies, which are everywhere".