February 8, Beijing, China: China’s top military command has rolled out a major education campaign to instill political loyalty to President Xi Jinping – an initiative aimed primarily at the top ranks of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
In a notice on Tuesday to all personnel in the world’s second-largest military force, the political work department of the powerful Central Ministry Commission (CMC) said the campaign should focus on the “key few”, a term the ruling Communist Party uses to describe senior officials with decision-making power on critical matters.
The Central Military Commission (CMC), the highest decision-making body of China’s armed forces, is chaired by Xi Jinping. A recent notice issued at the end of China’s Lunar New Year break emphasized ideological education within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), urging a stronger commitment to Xi’s military thought.
The directive calls for a focus on key personnel, reinforcing their ideological transformation to ensure deeper comprehension and application of Xi’s principles. The PLA is expected to “unite hearts and forge souls” through political education, persistently studying Xi’s military philosophy by reading his original works. It also stresses the importance of aligning military personnel with the party’s values, putting lessons into action, and maintaining combat readiness.
China unveiled new military modernization goals in October 2020. While details remain scarce, U.S. defense officials speculate Beijing could be preparing to take Taiwan by force by 2027, coinciding with the PLA’s centenary. Previous plans outlined objectives to “basically complete national defense and military modernization by 2035” and achieve a “world-class military by mid-century.”
Hong Kong-based military expert Liang Guoliang noted that, beyond advancements in weaponry, ideological and political education has been a major focus since the PLA’s structural reorganization. He emphasized that morale remains crucial, citing lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war, where soldiers lacked the will to fight without a strong ideological foundation. To enhance combat effectiveness, the PLA has been implementing smaller, more autonomous tactical units, reducing the smallest operational unit from a combined battalion to a platoon level. This shift underscores the need for soldiers to possess an unwavering belief in their cause.
The latest ideological push follows the CMC’s political work conference last June, where Xi reiterated the need to eliminate disloyal and corrupt elements from the military. He emphasized that the armed forces must always be controlled by those loyal to the party.
A Beijing-based military observer suggested that the downfall of Miao Hua, the PLA’s former ideological chief, may have contributed to delays in launching this ideological campaign.
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