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Overall Situation
Through the ages, the strict management of the armed forces according to law has been regarded as an iron rule. Military strategists have always enforced strict discipline to lead armies to victory. The Art of War, or Master Sun’s Military Rules, lists “rule of law” as one of the five elements to win a war. “People who are good at military practice will promote politics and stick to the rule of law, so they can dominate a battle,” says the book.
The CPC-led army has paid close attention to self-discipline and strict disciplinary enforcement since its foundation, when discipline distinguished it from other forces at the time. In April 1935, when the Red Army marched through the Tibetan region, soldier He Minren, Mao Zedong’s little brother-in-law, was one of the troops. One day, he could no longer resist his hunger and went to a lama temple for food with a couple of other soldiers. They found several silver and copper coins instead of food, and bought something to eat with the money. When their crime was revealed, they were executed by firing squad. Mao’s only remark on the matter was: “The Red Army should have iron discipline.”
In Chinese military history, such cases are too many to count. The PLA has grown stronger and achieved more under the rule of law and strict discipline enforcement.
The current measures were made together with Xi’s promotion of military modernization. The report of the 18th CPC National Congress said the PLA should comprehensively improve its ideological building, modernization and standardization, based on transformation of fighting capabilities. The PLA should keep up with the international trend of accelerating military reform, reform national defense and the armed forces in a proactive and prudent way, and profoundly carry out military reform with Chinese characteristics. The PLA should follow leading military theory, increase its innovation capacities in defense sciences and technologies, promote modernization of military structure, and construct a modern military power system with Chinese characteristics.
In the near future, the structure and administration will also be reshaped, along with advanced equipment and techniques.
“The military transformation will be secured by the rule of law with emphasis on legal thinking and systematic innovation and standardization. The PLA structure will be modernized, and the strategic goal of building modern armed forces with Chinese characteristics will be realized,” said Xu Qiliang, vice chairman of the CMC, in a signed article published in the CPC’s flagship newspaper, People’s Daily.
