The Chinese military has laid out new rules to strengthen political discipline and party loyalty, vowing to eradicate “erroneous political views and inappropriate remarks” and “fake combat capabilities”.
The revisions to the supplementary rules to the implementation of the Communist Party’s disciplinary regulations will come into effect on January 1, 2026, and are part of an ongoing crackdown on corruption that has led to the downfall of several top generals in recent months.
On Monday, PLA Daily, a mouthpiece of the People’s Liberation Army, said the new rules would “prioritise strict political discipline and rules”.
Under the changes, disciplinary violations now explicitly include expressions of “erroneous political remarks”, failure to comply with Central Military Commission (CMC) orders, and failure to implement the CMC chairman responsibility system.
The CMC is China’s top military leadership body and the chairman responsibility system means its chairman is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
The CMC chairman – now President Xi Jinping – holds the final deciding vote on major military decisions and oversees the CMC’s operations.
The structure is seen as vital to ensuring absolute party leadership over the military.
The PLA Daily did not give full details of the revised rules. Revisions were previously unveiled in 2017 when China aimed to complete a 300,000-troop reduction and restructure the military to consolidate party control and push hi-tech advances.
In addition, the rules focus on the PLA’s war readiness by clarifying disciplinary requirements regarding the party committee’s leadership and “eradicating fake combat capabilities”, the report said.
The changes also seek to improve the PLA’s work in personnel selection and appointment as well as better regulate the military’s engagement in business activities.
In October, days before the fourth plenum of the party’s Central Committee, China expelled nine top generals from the party and military, including former CMC vice-chairman He Weidong, former ideology and personnel head Miao Hua and his deputy, He Hongjun.
The charges against them included disloyalty to the party, serious violations of party discipline and grave duty-related crimes. At the fourth plenum, the party elites endorsed the expulsions.
China’s top leadership has repeatedly pledged to continue the country’s anti-corruption campaign in the military and defence industry, viewing such misdeeds as a significant threat to the PLA’s modernisation.
The party’s proposals relating to social and economic priorities for the next five years, covering 2026 to 2030, prioritise “political rectification” in the military, defined as both fighting corruption and upholding political loyalty.
Monday’s rules are meant to guide the anti-corruption campaign, reform the military procurement process and improve budget management for defence expenditure.
“The principle of building the armed forces through diligence and thrift must be fully implemented to ensure that military development is efficient, cost-effective and sustainable,” the PLA Daily said.
It also called for the PLA to continue improving political conduct and enforcing stricter discipline to “rectify misconduct in key sectors and fields”.
In recent years, several senior executives who served in leading positions at China’s arms supply conglomerates, aerospace companies and military research institutes have been removed or put under investigation for corruption.
A host of corruption allegations in the Chinese defence industry led to the postponement or cancellation of major arms contracts in 2024, resulting in a sharp drop in revenue for eight Chinese military suppliers, according to a report released on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a Swedish think tank.
The PLA Daily also said the new rules would strictly enforce regulations on conduct in the military and rectify breaches such as unauthorised banquets and drinking, along with violations in military-civilian exchanges.
Angered by the persistence of bureaucracy and extravagance – including incidents of excessive drinking – Beijing launched a nationwide campaign in March to enforce its eight-point austerity rules, which have been in place for over a decade.
The austerity campaign rules were introduced in 2012 soon after Xi came to power and have been at the centre of an education campaign this year to curb excesses by party members, an issue Beijing believes is critical to its public image.
The excesses have included lavish spending on official events and abuse of public funds for recreational purposes such as dining.
A Beijing-based military analyst said the revisions reflected Beijing’s effort to incorporate the latest findings from its corruption investigations into the rules. He said the top leadership wanted to reduce the likelihood of corruption and discipline violations.
“The 2017 revision happened during the military reform,” said the analyst, who declined to be named, citing the sensitivity of the matter.
“It was clearly aimed at tackling the problems found during the process, especially those who ... bad-mouthed the leadership, were passive and negligent in implementing the orders and were damaging the military’s image.” -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
