Amid a sweeping anti-corruption campaign within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping addressed the opening ceremony of the PLA’s first senior cadre training program, held at the National Defense University. The session was presided over by Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Shengmin and attended by senior officers, heads of CMC departments, and military units stationed in Beijing, with additional sub-venues set up via video link at army-level units across the country.
Xi called on senior military officers to “understand laws and discipline, follow rules, and maintain reverence,” stressing that “no one is above regulations” and that compliance with military rules “admits no exceptions.” He framed the CCP and PLA as organizations that have grown stronger through “continuous struggle against erroneous ideologies and work styles.”
Xi urged intensified “revolutionary tempering” of the officer corps to preserve the “purity and honor of the people’s army,” and called for the military to present a renewed political image ahead of the PLA’s 100th founding anniversary. He demanded that officers study his political doctrine — officially termed “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” — and conduct ideological rectification campaigns to ensure “theoretical clarity” underpins “political steadfastness.”
He emphasized that senior officers must lead by example in inner-party political life, speak truthfully, and foster an atmosphere encouraging candid speech and principled struggle. Xi reiterated that the CCP represents “the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people” and has “no special interests of its own,” declaring that any corrupt thoughts or behavior are fundamentally incompatible with the party’s nature. Officers were urged to “shed official airs,” reconnect with the revolutionary military spirit, and cultivate a culture of integrity throughout the ranks.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), April 8, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202604080354.aspx