Socialism with Chinese Characteristics Enters a New Era

2. Promote political army building, reform and strengthening the army, rejuvenating the army with science and technology, and managing the army according to law

As the core of the Party Central Committee, the core of the whole Party and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Comrade Xi Jinping has made strategic plans for national defense and army building, put forward strategic ideas and strategic measures for adhering to political army building, reforming and strengthening the army, rejuvenating the army with science and technology, and managing the army according to law, fully promoting national defense and army building, and creating a new situation of strengthening the army and rejuvenating the army.

Persist in political army building. Political army building is the foundation of our army, and we must not slacken at any time or under any circumstances. The key to our army’s ability to be loyal to the party, the people, and the country at all times, to forge ahead courageously and without flinching under any difficult and difficult circumstances, and to maintain a strong revolutionary will and combat effectiveness lies in always firmly adhering to political army building. The 19th CPC National Congress proposed that it is necessary to strengthen party building in the military, carry out education on the theme of “inheriting red genes and shouldering the heavy responsibility of strengthening the army”, promote the construction of the honor system for soldiers, cultivate revolutionary soldiers in the new era with soul, ability, blood, and moral character, and always maintain the nature, purpose and true color of the people’s army. First, uphold the party’s absolute leadership over the military. At the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Comrade Xi Jinping stressed that on the issue of upholding the fundamental principle of the party’s absolute leadership over the military:

“The mind must be particularly clear-headed, the attitude should be particularly clear, and the action should be particularly resolute, without any wavering, any hesitation, any ambiguity.”1 The key to upholding the party’s absolute leadership over the military lies in meeting the requirements of the word “absolute” and upholding the uniqueness, thoroughness, and unconditional nature of the party’s leadership. We must always maintain a high degree of unity with the party Central Committee in both ideology and action; we must obey the command in all our actions, whether in peacetime or wartime; we must implement to the letter the major principles and policies of the party and the army and the specific work arrangements. Second, it is necessary to establish four fundamental things: ideals and convictions, party spirit and principles, standards for combat effectiveness, and prestige in political work. Communists have always adhered to the party’s principle first, the party’s cause first, and the people’s interests first as the creed of life and work, taken the initiative to speak for the party, worry about the party, and serve the party in the party, and consciously implement loving the party, worrying about the party, rejuvenating the party, and protecting the party in all links of work. Persist in reforming and strengthening the army. Deepening the reform of national defense and the armed forces with greater wisdom and courage is the requirement of the times to realize the Chinese dream and the dream of strengthening the army, the only way to strengthen the army and rejuvenate the army, and also a key move to determine the future of the army. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, a complete set of reform designs that solve deep-seated contradictions, make major innovations and breakthroughs, and reflect the characteristics of our army have emerged from the cocoon. It is necessary to break the long-practiced system of headquarters, military regions, and the army, form a new pattern in which the Central Military Commission is in charge of the overall operation, the theater is in charge of the battle, and the services are in charge of construction, and 15 functional departments of the five major theaters, five major services and arms, and organs of the Central Military Commission are readjusted and established. This is the biggest change in the military’s leadership and command system since the founding of New China, and it is a structural the most active and revolutionary factors in military development, and every major scientific and technological progress and innovation will cause profound changes in the form of war and the mode of warfare. It is necessary to establish the idea that science and technology are the core combat effectiveness, promote major technological innovation and independent innovation, strengthen the construction of the military personnel and revolutionary reshaping of the system, which has a major and far-reaching impact on the construction and development of our army. Through major changes and reshaping, the people’s army has a new system, structure, pattern, and appearance. In the new era, it is necessary to continue to deepen the reform of national defense and the armed forces, deepen the reform of major policies and systems such as the professional system of officers, the civilian personnel system, and the military service system, promote the revolution in military management, and improve and develop the socialist military system with Chinese characteristics. Persist in rejuvenating the army through science and technology. Science and technology are training system, and build an innovative people’s army.

Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out that the ability to innovate is the core competitiveness of an army and an accelerator for generating and improving combat effectiveness. Historical experience and practical exploration tell us that the real core key technology cannot be bought with money. In order to take the initiative, occupy the high ground, and be undefeated in the fierce international military competition, we must persist in independent innovation and greatly enhance our ability to innovate independently in science and technology for national defense. To increase the contribution rate of scientific and technological innovation to army building and combat effectiveness, only by applying the results of scientific and technological innovation to the practice of national defense and army building in a timely and effective manner can it play an important role. At present, the development of China’s national defense science and technology is in a critical period of climbing up the hill and crossing difficulties, and it is necessary to choose the breakthrough point, advance the layout, strengthen forward-looking, leading, exploratory, and subversive major technology research and new concept research, and actively seek military technological competitive advantages. Persist in managing the army according to law. A modern army must be an army ruled by law. Comrade Xi Jinping clearly demanded that managing the army according to law and strictly managing the army should be included in the overall layout of governing the country according to law. He stressed: “The whole country is building a socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics and building a socialist country under the rule of law, and if the construction of the rule of law in the military is not stepped up, it will not be able to keep up at that time.” 1 The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly proposed to comprehensively administer the army strictly, promote a fundamental change in the way of administering the army, and improve the level of rule of law in national defense and army building. To further promote the management of the army according to law and the strict management of the army, it is first necessary to make the spirit of the rule of law and the concept of the rule of law deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so that all officers and men will believe in and adhere to the rule of law. The law must be observed, and the rule of law must be believed, otherwise it will be useless. It is necessary to carry out in-depth publicity and education on the rule of law throughout the army, incorporate education and training on the rule of law into the education and training system of the troops, regard the cultivation of the spirit of rule of law as an important part of the building of a culture of strengthening the army, and guide the vast number of officers and soldiers to internalize the rule of law into political conviction and moral accomplishment, and externalize it into a code of conduct and conscious action. It is necessary to let iron discipline exert its strength, and discipline inspection, inspection, and auditing departments must hold high their swords and perform their supervisory functions well. Through effective rule of law supervision, tighten the system of restraint and supervision of the operation of power, and ensure the correct use of power in accordance with the rules, prudent use of power, and clean use of power. It is necessary to bring about profound changes in the way of administering the armed forces, and bring about a fundamental change from the practice of relying solely on administrative orders to administering according to law, and from the way of carrying out work solely on habit and experience to carrying out work by relying on laws and regulations.

The fundamental change from the method of grasping work by surprise and movement to the act of handling affairs according to rules and regulations has created a good situation in the whole army in which party committees make decisions according to law, organs give guidance according to law, troops act according to law, and officers and men perform their duties according to law.