PLA mouthpiece puts focus on ‘political rectification’ after generals purged

China’s military mouthpiece has launched a series on “political rectification” – linking it to the ideological purity of the People’s Liberation Army – days after several generals were expelled from the ruling Communist Party for corruption.

In the first instalment on Monday, PLA Daily ran four pages of commentary and reporting urging the military to “strengthen and consolidate the consciousness of alignment and adherence”.

That was a reference to the alignment between the party leadership and the Central Military Commission, which is chaired by Xi Jinping.

The editorial launching the “Deepening Political Rectification” series said that “the smoke of ideological warfare has never dissipated; the tug of war between fortifying and undermining our foundations rages on, and the struggle between forging and corrupting souls persists”.

It said the key to addressing these challenges was political rectification.

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Official Chinese media outlets have previously interpreted this notion as a process of self-reflection to ensure the political “loyalty and reliability” of the military – with the main goal being to root out corruption.

South China Morning Post