Beijing, Feb 2 (PTI) Days after removing the highest-ranking PLA official, the Chinese military mouthpiece acknowledged “numerous factors affecting” the ruling Communist Party’s absolute leadership over armed forces, which is firmly advocated by President Xi Jinping.
Top general of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Gen Zhang Youxia was detained along with another senior general Liu Zhenli on Jan 24 to probe a host of allegations, including corruption, sending shockwaves in the rank and file of the world’s largest military with over two million serving personnel.
A day later, General Zhang was accused by the official newspaper of the military, the PLA Daily, the official organ of the Chinese military, threatening the Party’s absolute leadership over the armed forces as one of the reasons why they were placed under investigation.
Another editorial in the newspaper on Sunday said that Zhang’s removal points to challenges to Xi’s strong push for the military to accept absolute leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
The write-up acknowledged there were “numerous factors” affecting the party’s “absolute leadership over the military”, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
Erosion of the PLA’s political character was “real”, and the task of “eradicating the breeding ground and conditions for corruption remains arduous and challenging”, the article said.
The PLA must fully recognise the importance of political rectification to “consolidate its purity and glory”. The article also reiterated that the current concentrated investigation and crackdown were “not a case of the more we fight, the more corrupted it becomes”.
“It is rather the deeper we dig, the more we uncover,” it said, adding that the PLA “must not stop for a moment, nor retreat even half a step, and resolutely carry the fight against corruption in the military through to the end.” It argued that the continuing political rectification was necessary for the PLA to find better inner strength.
Different reports also cited reasons like his sharing nuclear secrets and core technical data related to China’s nuclear weapons programme with the US, besides accepting bribes for promotion of officers surfaced, surprising many considering Zhang 75 was Xi’s close confidant for years and assisted the President’s campaign to sack several senior generals, including two defence ministers, on charges of corruption.
The latest purge, which is stated to be the biggest so far, reduced the six-member Central Military Commission (CMC), the supreme high command of the Chinese armed forces, to just two — Xi who is its Chairman and Gen Zhang Shengmin.
The Sunday write-up in PLA Daily said, “at every critical historical juncture, our party has eliminated negative factors and rectified thoughts and actions through political rectification, enabling the people’s army to radiate its invincible and powerful force.” The charge of threatening the party’s absolute leadership is regarded very seriously, as the Chinese military, unlike other armed forces of the world, functions under the command of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which exercises absolute control of the armed forces.
Ever since he took over the leadership in 2012, President Xi Jinping 72 who also heads the party and the military besides the Presidency, has been emphasising that it is imperative for the military to function under the Party leadership.
The party holds the gun, he has been persistently reminding the military generals, emphasising that they must function under the civilian leadership. Justifying Zhang’s removal, another editorial in the PLA Daily on Monday said the PLA’s anti-corruption investigation into his removal, along with others, will eliminate a watered-down combat capability resulting from corruption and give new momentum to the armed forces.
“The resolute investigation and punishment of corrupt officials such as Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli removes obstacles and stumbling blocks that hinder the development of our cause,” it said.
“It eliminates the watered-down parts of combat capability building and inspires the spirit of hard work and perseverance, injecting strong momentum into the development of a strong military,” it added. PTI KJV RD RD
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.