Monday, August 3, 2015

PLA: on the right side at the right moment

CMC members in front, 10 new generals at the back.
On August 17, 2013, Xinhua reported that General Fan Changlong, a member of Communist Party’s Politburo and Senior Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) visited Tibet and Qinghai to inspect the forces “stationed on the snow-covered plateau, the loyal soldiers defending the frontiers”.
Interestingly, General Fan was accompanied by three Military Region Commanders (Lt. Gen. Liu Yuejun, commander of the Lanzhou Military Region, Lt. Gen.Zhao Zongqi, Commander, Jinan Military Region and General Li Shiming, Commander, Chengdu Military Region).
Though he had spend some 20 years in Tibetan Military District, why Lt. Gen. Zhao Zongqi was around was not clear at that time.
The main purpose of general Fan's Tibet tour was to convince the PLA officers that they should follow Xi Jinping in his crusade against corrupt officers.
Xinhua reported that General Fan told the army to firmly obey the command of President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.
China's senior-most general told the troops that “the army and the armed police should resolutely implement the strategies made by the CPC Central Committee and Xi, also the CMC Chairman, and uphold the correct decisions to investigate Zhou Yongkang and punish Xu Caihou.”
Was it a coincidence, but yesterday the Central Military Commission (CMC) promoted 10 generals of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Police Force (APF) to the rank of full general.
The three generals who visited Tibet with General Fan in August 2013, have got one more star.
Lt Gens Liu Yuejun, Zhao Zongqi and Li Zuocheng, respectively commanders of Beijing, Lanzhou, Jinan and Chengdu Military Area Commands, are now full generals. The next stage will be the membership of the CMC.
Moral of the story: it is always good to denounce the 'corrupts' and side with the 'boss', especially on a visit to the Roof of the World.
To 'please the boss' tactic is not new.
The South China Morning Post reported that Guo Boxiong, the former vice-chairman of China's Central Military Commission, who now faces investigation for taking bribes "courted favour with ex-president Jiang Zemin to become one of the leaders of the country’s military."
The Hong Kong paper says: "Guo Boxiong, the alleged leader of the 'Northwest faction' [Lanzhou] in the military, secured a powerful future by becoming the first general to publicly declare his loyalty to Jiang Zemin during the early stages of his presidency," adding: "The relationship served both men well – Guo allegedly used his position to spin a network of personal businesses while Jiang secured the allegiance of a proxy within the circle of top generals, allowing him to wield power even after he left office.."

No comments: