【Epoch Times December 6, 2024】General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, President of the country, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping emphasizes the importance of politics, believing that “political building of the military” is the “foundation of the military” for the CCP’s military and that “political work” is always the “lifeline” of the CCP’s military.
Xi has been promoting “political building of the military” for 12 years, initially relying on the General Political Department of the Military Commission to carry out “political building of the military,” and after the military reform in 2015, relying on the Political Work Department of the Military Commission to do so. In order to carry out “political building of the military” well, Xi has convened two military political work conferences.
What are the results? Completely contrary to Xi’s intentions, two major negative outcomes have emerged. I will provide a brief summary on this matter.
On October 30, 2014, the first military political work conference since Xi took office was held in Gutian Town, Shanghang County, Fujian Province.
The important background of this meeting was Xi’s investigation of a “big tiger” in the military—former member of the CCP Politburo and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xu Caihou.
Who is Xu Caihou? He once served as the Director of the General Political Department of the Central Military Commission responsible for the overall political work of the military, and later as the Vice Chairman of the Military Commission in charge of political work. In theory, Xu Caihou should have been one of the most politically astute senior officials in the CCP’s military, but the objective fact is that Xu was one of the most corrupt individuals in the CCP’s military, lacking in political discipline and loyalty to the party, and being involved in severe corruption, to the extent that the CCP dared not disclose the full extent of his ill-gotten wealth, for fear of inciting military rebellion.
Xu’s corruption was so extensive that the CCP hesitated to disclose it, possibly out of fear that revealing the truth about him would lead to unrest among the military ranks. The number of women Xu had relationships with was also staggering, including his own biological daughter. After the Xu scandal broke out, the CCP labeled him as a “traitor” and a “monster.”
When criticizing Xu Caihou, then Commander of the Nanjing Military Region Cai Yingting, said: “In reflecting on the lessons of the Xu Caihou case, it is found that his actions bear remarkable similarities to the ‘Ten Great Treacherous Officials’ in our country’s history, such as Qing Fu, Bo Pi, Zhao Gao, Dong Zhuo, Li Linfu, Cai Jing, Qin Hui, Yan Song, Wei Zhongxian, and He Shen, who are notorious for their lack of virtue and loyalty, their insatiable greed, their lawlessness, cunning deceit, partisanship, and pursuit of personal gain.”
On October 31, 2014, Xi attended the Gutian military work conference and delivered an “important speech.” Xi emphasized “adhering to the party’s leadership over cadres… truly selecting and appointing good cadres.” He stressed the need to “highly value and seriously view the Xu Caihou case, deeply reflect on the lessons learned, and thoroughly eliminate the influence.”
Why did Xi convene this military political work conference? The key reason was that there were senior military leaders who did not listen to him or agree with his policies. By investigating Xu Caihou, Xi aimed to make an example out of him to deter others.
From June 17 to 19, 2024, a second military political work conference since Xi took office was held in Yan’an, Shaanxi province.
The significant background of this conference was that after ten years of Xi’s “political building of the military,” both the former and current members of the Central Military Commission, State Councilors, and Ministers of National Defense Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, as well as the Commander of the Rocket Force Li Yuchao, were investigated and removed from their positions.
According to Xinhua News Agency, Li Shangfu “seriously violated political discipline, failed to fulfill the comprehensive and strict governance of the party’s political responsibility”; “seriously violated organizational discipline, engaged in violations to seek personal and others’ personnel benefits; used his position to seek benefits for others and received huge amounts of money, involving suspicion of bribery offenses”; “seriously polluted the political ecology in the military equipment sector and the industry with dishonest practices, causing significant harm to the party’s cause, national defense, and military construction, as well as causing extremely serious damage, with particularly adverse effects and enormous harm.”
On the afternoon of June 17, Xi delivered an “important speech” at the Yan’an military political work conference. Xi said that since the 18th National Congress of the CCP, a “new era political strategy of building the military” has been formed. Currently, the focus is on “advancing political building of the military without stopping for a moment” to provide a strong political guarantee for the cause of strengthening the military.
After a decade, why did Xi convene the second military political work conference? Xi discovered that despite ten years of promoting “political building of the military” and investigating over 200 ‘military tigers,’ there were still some individuals within the military who did not listen to him. Through “political rectification,” he sought to ensure political loyalty.
After ten years of Xi’s “political building of the military,” two major negative outcomes emerged: former Director of the Military Commission Political Work Department Zhang Yang seriously violated political discipline and rules supporting Xi’s “political building of the military,” and current Director of the Military Commission Political Work Department Miao Hua was investigated for serious disciplinary violations.
During the Gutian military political work conference in 2014, Zhang Yang served as the Director of the General Political Department of the Military Commission, and after the military reform in 2015, Zhang Yang was appointed as the Director of the Military Commission Political Work Department. Zhang Yang also concurrently served as the Chief of the Military’s Education and Rectification Leadership Group and the Leadership Group responsible for implementing the spirit of the Gutian Political Work Conference.
From 2013 to 2017, Zhang Yang oversaw the military’s political work for nearly five years and was the most important assistant for Xi Jinping, the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, in managing the military’s political work.
On November 28, 2017, Xinhua News Agency announced: On August 28, 2017, with approval from the Party Central Committee, the Central Military Commission decided to have a formal conversation with Zhang Yang, a member of the Central Military Commission, and the former Director of the Central Military Commission Political Work Department, to investigate and verify information related to the cases of Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou. Following the investigation, Zhang Yang was found to have seriously violated discipline and laws, involving suspicion of bribery, corruption, and illegal accumulation of enormous wealth. During the deliberations, Zhang Yang remained at home. On the morning of November 23, Zhang Yang was found dead at home by hanging.
On the same day, the CCP’s military newspaper published a commentary stating that Zhang Yang “committed suicide out of fears.” As a senior official in the party and the military, Zhang Yang “lost ideal and belief, party principles, discipline, and moral bottom line, exhibited two-faced behavior, and pursued corrupt activities, which severely harmed the party and military’s cause, further tainted the images of the party, the military, and the political work, as well as the image of senior leadership.”
On October 16, 2018, nearly a year after Zhang Yang’s suicide, Xinhua News Agency published the CPP’s Central Committee’s decision to expel Zhang Yang from the party. The decision stated, “After investigation, Zhang Yang has severely violated party political discipline and rules, organizational discipline, integrity discipline, as well as national laws and regulations, involving bribery, corruption, illegally accumulated wealth, and a very serious situation with extremely adverse effects.”
“The ruthless behavior of Zhang Yang, who betrayed the party’s trust and values, acted in a two-faced manner, exhibiting political changes, greed, moral degradation, and low conduct since the 18th Party Congress while flouting the rules blatantly. Ultimately, he opted for suicide to dodge party discipline and state laws, inflicting serious damage on the party and the military, and severely tarnishing the image of military political work and leadership.”
On August 18, 2018, Liu Yuan, the son of former CCP State Chairman Liu Shaoqi, in an interview with the New Jing Daily’s “Political Matters” column, stated: “Zhang Yang’s issues are more serious than those of Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou. Zhang Yang’s involvement in cases entails a vast sum of money. As the Director of the Political Department, he is ‘the epitome of wickedness.'”
After Zhang Yang was suspended and underwent a “formal conversation,” Miao Hua was promoted by Xi Jinping in August 2017 to serve as the Director of the Military Commission Political Work Department.
Publications 2024-2027.