Generals echo Xi's call for strong military

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, speaks at a plenary meeting of deputies to China's 12th National People's Congress (NPC) from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) during the second session of the 12th NPC in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2014. Xi attended a plenary meeting of PLA deputies attending the second session of the 12th NPC and delivered an important speech on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

Commanders from China's seven military regions of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) jointly published articles on Wednesday, elaborating measures to build a strong military and supporting President Xi Jinping's call on military reform.

A total of 18 articles, written by the country's major military leaders, took up a full page of Wednesday's PLA Daily. They discussed measures based on their actual practice while echoing the call of Xi, also the chairman of the Communist Party of China Central Military Commission.

Experts believed that this move showed the military's support and confidence to push forward reform, which requires strengthening combat readiness and effectiveness and improving the management system.

The army and armed police across the nation had been ordered earlier to discuss Xi's remarks about building a strong military at a key military reform meeting on March 15.

China has always called for a strong military, which is an essential part of the mission to build a strong nation, Major General Luo Yuan, vice president of the China Strategic Culture Promotion Association, told the Global Times.

Xi has inspected seven military regions in Beijing, Shenyang, Jinan, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Lanzhou after he took office in November 2012. Xi worked from 1979 to 1982 as secretary to Geng Biao, a key military strategist who contributed to the founding of the People's Republic of China.

National defense and military reforms are an important part of China's overall reform, Xu Guangyu, a councilor at the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, told the Global Times, saying military strength had to keep pace with China's growing soft power.

"Moreover, China is facing a rigorous ordeal in a world where all sides are fighting for their interests," Xu said, stressing the importance of a strong army to safeguard China's development.

The commander of the Beijing military region wrote about the rule of law in military construction in his article, emphasizing that the army should be run strictly in accordance with the law.

Army disciplinary inspectors have identified problems in the Beijing and Jinan military regions, PLA reported on Tuesday. The disciplinary teams were sent to Beijing and Jinan military regions from December 2013 as the first round of inspections sent by the Central Military Commission.

"The military has a highly centralized power system and the commanders should be supervised strictly by law to avoid power abuse and corruption," Xu said. He pointed out that the military reform will focus more on legal construction and improving the command system and power structure.

Xu said that the case of former senior PLA officer Gu Junshan signaled a more intensive campaign against law breakers in the military.

Gu was charged with embezzlement, bribery, misuse of State funds and abuse of power in March.

Both Luo and Xu believe that more specific measures will be laid out soon.