Chinese President Xi Jinping has told military lawmakers to double down on the fight against corruption in the armed forces and to make greater use of technology to advance combat strength.
“[We should] give more importance to supervision, build a complete and effective supervision system, strengthen integrated supervision and joint audits, and investigate deeply into corruption,” Xi told the deputies.
The anti-corruption message was similar to Beijing’s call for the military to “deepen political rectification” as part of the government’s annual work report presented by Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday.
It was the first time in a decade that such a call – usually a reference to anti-corruption efforts – had been included in the report’s defence section.
China’s long-running anti-corruption campaign has led to the downfall of a number of senior commanders in the PLA, including two former defence ministers – Li Shangfu and his predecessor Wei Fenghe – as well as Miao Hua, a former member of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) chaired by Xi.
The campaign has also swept through China’s defence industry, bringing down dozens of executives.
Comments are closed.