⏎ Words Summary from News
**China’s top military anti-graft official has concluded an unprecedented two-month training course for senior PLA officers by demanding greater loyalty and “political rectification” ahead of the army’s centenary.** Zhang Shengmin, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, closed the course at the National Defence University on Tuesday, urging participants to greet the PLA’s 100th anniversary on August 1 with a “renewed political outlook.” The training, which began on April 8 and was attended by President Xi Jinping, is part of a broader campaign to purge corruption and ideological deviation from the military’s highest ranks.</p><p class="summary-lead">**The course comes amid a sweeping anti-corruption drive that has already felled dozens of top brass, including two former defence ministers who received suspended death sentences last month.** Xi Jinping told the opening ceremony that senior officers must lead by example in speaking truth, offering candid advice, and fighting wrongdoing, while stressing that any thought of personal gain is incompatible with the party’s nature. The phrase “political rectification”—meaning the rooting out of corruption and ideological issues—has now been formally enshrined in China’s 15th five-year plan covering 2026 to 2030.</p><p class="summary-lead">**Official commentary warns that if the PLA loses its “purity,” the party’s absolute leadership over the military would be suspended and its biggest political advantage lost.** To maintain that purity, loyalty to the party must be “exclusive, absolute and unconditional,” with all directives from the Central Committee, the CMC, and Xi carried out to the letter. Xi has repeatedly stressed that anti-graft efforts and study sessions must continue for the military to achieve its centenary goal by August 2027, which he has linked to the PLA’s ability to “win local wars.”</p><p class="summary-lead">**The implications are clear: Beijing is tightening ideological and disciplinary control over the PLA as it approaches a key modernization deadline.** The unprecedented training for senior officials signals that even the highest ranks are not immune from scrutiny, and the severe sentences for former defence ministers underscore the regime’s zero-tolerance approach. By embedding “political rectification” into the five-year plan, China is institutionalizing a permanent campaign to ensure the military remains a loyal, corruption-free instrument of party power.</p><p class="summary-lead">**What to watch next:** Whether the anti-corruption drive will expand further into the PLA’s middle ranks, and how the military’s “centenary goal” of winning local wars translates into concrete operational or doctrinal changes.
Key Takeaways
- The PLA’s top anti-graft officer has concluded an unprecedented two-month training for senior officials, demanding renewed loyalty and political rectification ahead of the army’s 2027 centenary.
- Two former defence ministers received suspended death sentences last month, the harshest punishments for high-ranking military officials since Xi’s anti-corruption campaign began in 2012.
- The phrase “political rectification” has been formally included in China’s 15th five-year plan, signaling a permanent institutional focus on rooting out corruption and ideological deviation.
- Xi Jinping has linked the PLA’s centenary goal to its ability to “win local wars,” suggesting the anti-graft campaign is directly tied to military modernization and combat readiness.
Insights & Analysis
- The unprecedented training for senior officers suggests Xi is moving beyond punishing individual corrupt officials to systematically reshaping the PLA’s institutional culture and loyalty mechanisms.
- By embedding political rectification into the five-year plan, Beijing is creating a permanent bureaucratic apparatus for ideological surveillance within the military, which could slow operational innovation but ensure absolute political compliance.