Courcy’s Intelligence Brief

As the incidents of social unrest in China multiply, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has made a strong public statement about its absolute support for the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In Monday’s edition (20 June) of the PLA Daily, a front-page opinion piece penned by Central Military Commission (CMC) member General Li Jinai warned against “domestic and foreign hostile forces” trying to drive a wedge between the PLA and the CCP with calls for the depoliticizing of the army and the breaking of its affiliation with the CCP.

Li wrote: “We must resolutely reject these false political ideas and unswevingly listen to and support the Party...The military is the conerstone of the regime, and the ruling party must have a firm grip on the military.”
Supreme authority over the PLA belongs with the CPC’s Central Committee and the Central Military Commission - and that must remain the case according to Li.  He wrote: “On the fundamental political principle of the upholding of the Party’s absolute leadership over the military we must be especially clear in mind, outright in attitude, and resolute in action.”

Interestingly, on the civilian front, an article last month in the CCP’s theoretical journal Qiushi argued that the concept of ‘co-government by officials and citizens’ - as some senior officials have advocated as the best way of achieving the ‘improved social management’ promised by President Hu Jintao - was a “dangerous trap”.  Zhou Benshun, secretary-general of the CCP’s central political and legislative affairs committee, warned that “social organizations with ulterior motives” had to be eradicated.

An article last week on the Qiushi website by Professor Fan Hongmin of Zhengzhou University noted that “some scholars are even beginning to talk about the possibility of social turmoil”.  The article was later removed without explanation.