China’s official military newspaper has urged the force’s political officers to rebuild their image by showing more loyalty to the top leadership, honesty in their work, and integrity in how they promote soldiers.
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The series of commentaries in the PLA Daily follows Beijing’s new disciplinary guidelines released on Monday to “eliminate toxic influences” in the work of political officers, after a string of high-profile military crackdowns. The latest events include the removal last month of top general Miao Hua from the Central Military Commission (CMC), China’s highest military command.
Observers remarked that the guidelines and commentaries on improving the image and reputation of political cadres contained subtle clues about the misdeeds of the fallen generals, as well as Beijing’s expectations for political officials in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to address and repair the damage.
The three-part series, titled “How to firmly establish the image and reputation of political cadres”, ran from Tuesday to Thursday on the front pages of the PLA Daily as well as its social media platforms.
The first commentary stressed the importance of maintaining political loyalty to the Communist Party leadership.
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“Once loyalty is watered down or falsified, personal interest will overwhelm the collective good in the face of complex struggles and tests of interests, and [they] may even slide into the abyss, betraying both the original intention of joining the army and the party oath,” Tuesday’s edition said.