Military pledges allegiance after corruption probe
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the paramilitary People’s Armed Police have voiced their support for the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) anti-graft resolution after former military leader Xu Caihou was held under a corruption probe.
The announcement of Xu’s expulsion from the Party on Monday has caused “strong reactions” in the military, a story on the PLA Daily’s front
page said Wednesday. All top military organs and regional military commands swore their absolute allegiance to the CPC Central Committee and President Xi Jinping, who is also chairman of the Central Military Committee (CMC).
Xu, former vice chairman of the CMC, is the highest-ranking military official probed. He was found to have taken bribes in exchange for promoting others, “seriously violating Party discipline” and is under suspicion of other bribery charges, authorities said.
The military has organized officials to watch and read news reports about Xu and study the Party leadership’s anti-corruption policies, the PLA Daily reported.
“The CPC Central Committee and the CMC have sorted out the military by first sorting out the generals,” the newspaper quoted the Navy’s Party committee as saying. “The move has sent a strong signal that there is no place for corrupt elements to hide.”
Since Xi became leader in 2013, the country has witnessed an increasingly extensive campaign to dig out corrupt officials. On a monthly basis, the CPC Central Committee’s disciplinary body’s website has reported corruption cases involving hundreds of officials found in local and central governments, State-owned enterprises and universities.
“The previously extremely secretive and highly sensitive anti-graft work in the military has come into the public spotlight in an ever more open manner,” Gao Bo, deputy secretary-general of China Anti-Corruption Research Center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the People’s Daily Online on Tuesday.
This shows the Party’s confidence in fighting corruption and governing the country, he said.
Xu’s downfall followed Gu Junshan, former deputy head of the PLA General Logistics Department, who was charged with embezzlement and bribery three months ago.
Gu’s extravagant life style and illegally-obtained properties drew public attention to the severity of military corruption.
“That even a high-ranking general can be held shows the tremendous determination of the CPC Central Committee to root out corruption,” Li Daguang, a military expert at the PLA National Defense University, told the Global Times.
He said corruption in the military is even more serious than among civil servants, however, the authorities will not be reluctant to hold the corrupt officers responsible for fear of destabilizing the military ranks.
“A larger crackdown will take place in the military,” he said. “The authorities do not want to see the foundation of the country being eroded.”
Other official media are joining the military newspaper’s enthusiastic support for the case against Xu.
The People’s Daily ran a commentary on Wednesday saying the CPC has shown with its action that there is no special Party member in the Party or the military.
“Anyone who ignores the law and discipline or think they are at a higher position to abuse power will be punished severely by Party rules and State laws,” the article said.
Liu Yuan, political commissar of the General Logistics Department, also wrote in Qiushi Journal that corrupt officials will be kicked out of the Party. He also warned of cliques that focus on personal interests beyond Party interests.
According to a report Wednesday by the People’s Daily, the inspection teams sent out by the Party’s top disciplinary body can report directly to Xi about what they have found, in order to avoid the blocking of corruption findings.