Xi Jinping tells top PLA leaders they must eliminate ‘conditions that breed corruption’

Emphasising loyalty, Chinese leader gives address at a political work conference of the Central Military Commission that he initiated

China’s military

Liu Zhen

Published: 10:00am, 20 Jun 2024

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The People’s Liberation Army must show absolute loyalty to the Communist Party and there can be no room for corruption in the military, President Xi Jinping told top PLA brass this week.

“We must make it clear that the barrels of guns must always be in the hands of those who are loyal and dependable to the party … And we must make it clear that there is no place for any corrupt elements in the military,” Xi was quoted by state media as saying.

Xi spoke on Monday in Yanan, in northwest Shaanxi province, at a political work conference of the Central Military Commission (CMC) with key officials and political commissars of the military, state news agency Xinhua reported. The appearance came before next month’s Third Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, which is expected to lay out China’s reform and economic priorities for the next few years.

The Xinhua report highlighted that the conference was initiated by Xi, who is the chairman of the CMC – the top decision-making body of the PLA.

Xi’s speech, which covered a range of issues from global geopolitical challenges to the PLA’s modernisation, mirrored a similar one he gave a decade ago in Gutian, Fujian province, that heralded an overhaul of the PLA and acceleration of its modernisation drive.

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On Monday, Xi told the PLA elites that they must never forget the revolutionary spirit of the Communist Party founders, stay loyal to the party, and steel themselves for an unstable and rapidly changing world.

“At present, we face complex and profound changes in the world, country, party and the army,” he said. “Politically, we must incessantly promote politics in our army-building as our military face sophisticated and unparalleled challenges so that we can ensure the nature and principles of the people’s army will never change, and we can always dare to fight and win.”

In order to win, Xi said leading cadres must be prepared to do “deep soul searching” and face their own shortcomings.

“[PLA] cadres at all levels, the senior ones in particular, must step forward, dare to lose face and face up to their own shortcomings and flaws … make earnest rectifications, resolve problems that are deeply rooted in their thinking,” Xi said.

He added that the top brass must eliminate “hotbeds and conditions that breed corruption” by improving the distribution of power and operational check and balance mechanisms, “enriching the toolbox for punishing new types of corruption and hidden corruption” and strengthening the all-round supervision of high-ranking officers in their performance and use of power.

Xi made no mention of individuals in his speech, which came after the sacking of dozens of senior PLA officials since last year. Former defence minister Li Shangfu was abruptly removed in October, with the reason for his removal never announced.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre) leads Central Military Commission members on a visit to see revolutionary relics in Yanan on Monday. The CMC Political Work Conference was held this week in Yanan, an old revolutionary base in northwestern Shaanxi province. Photo: Xinhua

Additionally, nine senior generals – including past or current top commanders of the PLA Rocket Force (PLARF), the former air force commander and a few Central Military Commission officials with the Equipment Development Department in charge of equipment development of procurement – were disqualified from their posts in the National People’s Congress in December. Their removals also remain unexplained.

SCMP reported last year that Beijing had started a wide-ranging anti-corruption investigation focused on the leaders of the PLARF, a key element of the country’s nuclear arsenal. In December, the inquiries led to the dismissal of three senior Chinese aerospace-defence executives from China’s top advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and a prominent Chinese rocket scientist was also expelled from the CPPCC in January.

The military has been one of the main targets of Xi’s far-reaching anti-corruption campaign. The decade-long effort has seen the downfall of top military leaders like Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, both former vice-chairmen of the CMC, in 2014 and 2015.

The Political Work Conference is part of the Central Military Commission’s meeting series on important issues, as “political work is always the lifeline of the PLA”.

In 2014, Xi chaired an extended Political Work Conference of the CMC with delegates from the entire PLA in Gutian, Fujian province. The meeting echoed the 1929 meeting held in the same place by Mao Zedong, during which the Communist Party established the principle of “the party commands the gun”.