BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed the military’s “fight against corruption”, state media reported on Wednesday, in a rare acknowledgement of graft weeks after Beijing escalated a sweeping purge by probing its top general. Beijing’s defence ministry said last month it was investigating Zhang Youxia, a vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), as well as Liu Zhenli, chief of staff of the CMC’s joint staff department, which oversees combat planning.
The pair were the latest to fall under a huge drive to root out graft at all levels of the Chinese Communist Party and state since Xi came to power more than a decade ago. The drive has targeted the military in recent years.
Speaking to soldiers in a virtual address on Tuesday, Xi said the military had “undergone revolutionary tempering in the fight against corruption”, using a phrase commonly associated with strengthening military and party loyalty. “The People’s Liberation Army has advanced in-depth political rectification (and) effectively responded to various risks and challenges,” Xi said, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Xi said in his remarks that “the past year has been highly unusual and extraordinary” but troops “have proven fully reliable and trustworthy”. CCTV reported that discipline czar Zhang Shengmin was present at the address.
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