PLA orders combat officers and commissars to trade places to boost fighting capability
China's People's Liberation Army has ordered combat officers and those in charge of political training at the grass-roots level to switch posts.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has ordered combat officers and those in charge of political training at the grass-roots level to switch posts to improve both fighting capability and political loyalty of the army.
The new measure will apply to chief officers at all grass-roots units in the army and the armed police, according to a circular quoted by the PLA Daily.
The report said that President Xi Jinping , who as Communist party secretary also heads the military, wanted officers to have wider training early in their careers. "The circular will have a positive impact to help cultivate officers who show talent in both military and political affairs," the report said.
Political officers and commissars are in charge of ensuring the loyalty and political correctness of the army. Usually they have different career paths from combat officers.
Xinhua said that during a pilot scheme at a brigade of the 27th Combined Corp last year, company commanders were asked to swap stream after two years in office, while all battalion chiefs should change posts if they had not done so before.
The circular said the scheme would be expanded to all grass-roots units. But the army would still find ways to ensure the continuity of officers' career paths even though they would be moved around more often.