Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) remarks that he would not tolerate partial loyalty from the Chinese military toward the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) reflected the Chinese state leadership’s unease about its control, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
Annual meetings of the 14th Chinese National People’s Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference commenced last week.
In his role as the CCP general secretary and Central Military Commission (CMC) chairman, Xi on Saturday attended a plenary meeting with delegations of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force in the attendance.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
Xi said in his address that anyone in the Chinese military harboring incomplete loyalty to the party is intolerable.
There is no place for corrupt elements, and the fight against corruption must be advanced with unwavering determination, he added.
Xi’s remarks and CMC Vice Chairman Zhang Shengmin’s (張升民) order saying “the whole military must follow Xi’s command” reflected the Chinese leadership’s “deep unease” about its control of the military, MAC Deputy Minister Shen Yu-chung (沈有忠) said yesterday at a forum in Taipei held by the Institute for National Policy Research.
Starting with the CMC’s Equipment Development Department and the PLA’s Rocket Force, Xi has escalated his purges of several senior military officials into an unprecedented large-scale purge of the entire military leadership, Shen said.
Regardless of the reason, it is evident that Xi, with such a massive political purge, is seeking to rebuild a military that is unquestionably loyal to him and the party, rather than a military of which first priority is Chinese people, Shen said.
Xi has been using “political army building” and “anti-corruption reform” as excuses to purge dissent while escalating military intimidation against Taiwan, he said.
Citing Taiwan’s achievement in defeating South Korea in their World Baseball Classic Pool C game, Shen said solidarity and self-development are the only means to clinch a victory against a tough enemy.
Taiwan’s national sovereignty, along with freedom and democracy, is the greatest bipartisan common ground, he said, adding that the legislature should put aside political differences and back bills aimed at enhancing national defense.
It should also expedite cooperation with other democratic countries such as the US and Japan to ensure sustainable development of Taiwanese sovereignty and democracy via national strength, he added.
Meanwhile, the second plenary meeting of the fourth session of the NPC was held yesterday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
NPC Standing Committee Chairman Zhao Leji (趙樂際) at the presented an NPC standing committee report regarding the implementation of the Chinese constitution, saying that the NPC standing committee has decided to establish Oct. 25 as the “Day of Taiwan’s Restoration.”
The decision was made following last year’s events commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the 80th anniversary of “Taiwan’s restoration,” he said.
The NPC Standing Committee made the decision based on the Chinese constitution to demonstrate its “unwavering determination” in upholding the “one China” principle and defending Chinese national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, Zhao said.
The goal is to strengthen the common historical memory of compatriots across the Taiwan Strait and inspire all Chinese people to strive in solidarity for “reunification” of the motherland and rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, he said.
Former Tunghai University Cross-Strait Research Center deputy executive director Hung Pu-chao (洪浦釗) yesterday said that “this is a typical case of lawfare — listing the ‘Retrocession Day’ as a Chinese holiday to portray Taiwan as part of China.”
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