A senior Chinese general published an article today stressing that military troops’ first priority should be loyalty to the Communist Party. From Reuters:
Li Jinai, a member of the powerful Central Military Commission and head of the People’s Liberation Army’s General Political Department, wrote in April’s Party journal Seeking Truth that politics would not be sacrificed to modernization.
“Following the profound reforms our country’s economy and society have been experiencing and our continued opening up to the outside, every type of thinking and culture has surged in,” Li wrote, using the ponderous prose typical of Chinese officials.
“Inevitably, some mistaken, backward things have also seeped in to influence the military,” he added, without elaborating.
“The Chinese Communist Party is the leadership core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and maintaining the Party’s absolute leadership is our military’s political priority,” Li said.
