appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Xinlu Liang

China’s most senior general Zhang Shengmin has invoked the late former president Jiang Zemin’s response to the collapse of the Soviet Union and first Gulf war in an article emphasising the importance of party unity and military reform in the face of external threats.
This month has seen a series of commemorative events to mark the centenary of Jiang’s birth, including a grand ceremony in Beijing on Monday, where President Xi Jinping gave a 40-minute speech highlighting his predecessor’s legacy.
In the article, published by party mouthpiece People’s Daily on Tuesday, Zhang highlighted the existential threats China faced in the late 20th century and how Jiang steered the People’s Liberation Army through the turmoil that followed the fall of the Iron Curtain in Europe in 1989.
The vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission argued that during this period, “hostile forces” had been promoting concepts he described as “depoliticisation”, “departyisation” and “nationalisation”.
The Communist Party has long viewed such ideas – which would effectively remove the party’s ideological control, institutional grip and leadership from the military – as existential threats.
Zhang said Jiang had treated the party’s absolute leadership as the PLA’s core foundation, launching comprehensive education campaigns across the ranks and weeding out harmful tendencies.
“He made great efforts to strengthen party committees at all levels and the cadre corps, while resolutely opposing and overcoming the ‘mountain-stronghold’ mentality [factionalism], sectarianism and other erroneous tendencies that endangered the military’s centralised unity, thereby ensuring that the barrel of the gun remained firmly in the hands of reliable people loyal to the party,” the article said.
Zhang has long stressed the importance of political development, echoing long-standing party concerns over military loyalty.
Recent years have also seen a series of high-profile anti-corruption investigations that targeted a number of senior commanders and left only Zhang and Xi on the CMC, China’s top military command body.
Beijing has also pledged to uphold ideological purity through a “political rectification” campaign, with Zhang as the top enforcer.
The article also discussed Jiang’s reaction to the 1991 Gulf war, where the US-led campaign to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait reshaped global thinking about defence.


Zhang wrote that Jiang had “keenly recognised” the ways modern warfare had evolved and “unswervingly pursued the path of building elite troops with Chinese characteristics”.
The article highlighted how Jiang shifted the PLA’s focus away from a manpower-heavy model to one that prioritised the use of modern technology and emphasised the importance of quality over quantity when producing arms and equipment.
Under Jiang, this meant slashing troop headcount – including 500,000 personnel in 1997 – to free up funds for research and development while reallocating capital away from foot soldiers towards the navy, air force, strategic missile forces and space programmes.
Ultimately, the military largely abandoned the use of conscripts in favour of engineers and technical specialists capable of operating advanced, computer-guided systems.
It also established emergency mobile units geared towards counter-separatist operations and deterrence in the Taiwan Strait, the article said.
Zhang concluded that in the run-up to the PLA’s centenary next August, “the best tribute to the revolutionary predecessors who built and developed this heroic military is to accelerate its transformation into a world-class force”.
Beijing will want to use the event to highlight its military development and has set a centenary goal for the military, but has only given a vague public definition of what this is.


People’s Daily rejects US claims of malicious AI distillation, warns of countermeasures

Will China’s new local surtax provide relief for its regions’ fiscal headaches?

Huawei’s US trial puts jury to the test amid China, Iran links

Beijing puts a total ban on drones in update to regulations after deadly tower crash

China’s Communist Party

Top Chinese general draws on Jiang’s legacy to highlight importance of loyalty in military

Jiang Zemin, pictured in a military parade in Beijing in 1999. Photo: Reuters

Communist Party of China invokes Jiang’s legacy in call to rally round Xi’s leadership

Jiang Zemin, pictured in a display at the Communist Party musuem in Beijing, took China into the World Trade Organization in 2001. Photo: EPA

China’s Xi praises former president Jiang Zemin’s contribution in show of party unity

President Xi Jinping presides over a grand ceremony in Beijing on Monday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of former state leader Jiang Zemin. Photo: CCTV

President Xi Jinping leads a grand ceremony in Beijing on Monday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of former state leader Jiang Zemin. Photo: CCTV

Then-president Jiang Zemin smiles through the rain and waves to a crowd upon his arrival in Hong Kong for the handover on June 30, 1997. Photo: Reuters

China prepares to mark Jiang Zemin centenary with full commemorative honours

Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) shakes hands with former leader Jiang Zemin at the 19th national party congress in 2017. Photo: Simon Song

A scene from the 12-part centenary documentary on former Chinese president Jiang Zemin now screening on state broadcaster CCTV. Photo: CCTV 

News

China

Military

CMC vice-chair Zhang Shengmin recalls how late president steered the country through the turmoil that followed the end of the Soviet bloc


CMC vice-chair Zhang Shengmin recalls how late president steered the country through the turmoil that followed the end of the Soviet bloc.


Jiang Zemin

Zhang Shengmin

People’s Daily

Top Chinese general draws on Jiang’s legacy to highlight importance of loyalty in military

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}CMC vice-chair Zhang Shengmin recalls how late president steered the country through the turmoil that followed the end of the Soviet bloc

CMC vice-chair Zhang Shengmin recalls how late president steered the country through the turmoil that followed the end of the Soviet bloc