Xi Jinping puts China’s military focus back on toeing Communist Party line
- Summoning the top brass to Beijing, Xi again says loyalty to the party at the heart of armed forces’ goals
- PLA Daily echoes call for tight political discipline to avoid setbacks and losses
Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered the country’s top brass to renew their efforts to eliminate corruption, calling on them to reassert the Communist Party’s absolute leadership over the armed forces.
By 2027, 100 years after its founding, the People’s Liberation Army aims to be a more efficient and combat-ready force and make greater use of advanced technology in warfare. The PLA will observe its 96th anniversary on August 1.
02:28
‘Preparing for war’: China revises military recruitment rules for the first time since 2001
The meeting included most members of the Central Military Commission – China’s top military decision-making body – as well as the heads of the CMC’s departments and bodies, leaders of theatre commands and top personnel from each service branch.
It was the third gathering of its kind since Xi became CMC chairman in 2012, with the first taking place in 2013 and the second in 2018.
Xi also used those meetings to underscore the need for party loyalty from the military, a condition the party sees as a matter of regime survival.