Ahead of the Spring Festival, China's most important holiday which marks the beginning of the new year, Chinese military leadership called for increased military readiness and highlighted the importance of ridding the defence establishment of corruption, which appears to have hampered the modernisation efforts of the forces.
Zhang Youxia, first-ranked vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, and second-ranked vice-chairman of Central Military Commission General He Weidong, who visited various troops of the People’s Liberation Army and interacted with them ahead of the holiday, stressed the importance of strengthening the discipline of the armed forces.
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“(We should) severely investigate and deal with corruption issues surrounding officers and soldiers,” Zhang reportedly said even as he stressed the importance of stronger training and combat preparation amid the various tensions and challenges faced by China on different fronts, including the border with India.
General He said the focus should be on training and preparation for combat, maintaining a constant state of readiness and intensifying real military training, "fostering a fighting spirit of daring to do battle and ensuring victory and building reliable, ready-to-deploy combat capabilities."
General Zhang asked the troops to enhance their capabilities for supporting and preparing for combat and boosting "new-domain forces with new combat capabilities," according to a report by South China Morning Post.
