Xi: Troops must strictly follow CPC leadership

Chinese President Xi Jinping (C), also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), shakes hands with military cadre during his tour of the Beijing Military Area Command in Beijing, capital of China, July 29, 2013. Xi made this visit ahead of the Army Day, which falls on Aug. 1 and marks the 86th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). (Xinhua/Li Gang) BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President and Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping has stressed efforts to ensure that troops strictly follow the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). He made the comments during a tour of the Beijing Military Area Command on Monday. The Beijing Military Area Command, which is based in the capital, has a special status and role, as well as a special mission, and it faces a special environment, said Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee. "We must make sure that troops obey the command of the Party and are absolutely loyal and reliable," he said. Xi said the Beijing Military Area Command must fulfill its duties and missions, focus on improving its capabilities related to fighting wars and unswervingly improve its work style. IDEOLOGICAL PURITY Xi called for unremitting efforts to arm servicemen with socialist theories of Chinese characteristics and ensure their purity, reliability and firmness in ideological fronts. Officials and soldiers, "especially those medium-level and senior officials," should be educated on consciously sticking to political belief, political stance as well as political discipline, he said. "They should maintain high-level unity with the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission any time and under any circumstances, and resolutely obey their command," he said. Currently and in the near future, an important task in the regard is to strengthen efforts of promoting the goal of building a strong military, Xi said. Xi said combat capability is the only and fundamental measure of the troops, urging accelerated steps to enhance the military's strength based on information technology. Training bases should be well used for warfighting-oriented eercises, he added. Xi stressed that directives issued by the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission should be strictly followed and the ongoing "mass line" campaign should be carried out in a down-to-earth manner. The CPC committees at various levels in the military and military officials are both organizers and participants of the campaign, and should take the lead in work style improvement, he said. FESTIVE GREETINGS The visit came just days ahead of Army Day, which falls on Aug. 1 and this year marks the 86th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army. On behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, he extended regards and festive greetings to military personnel in the command as well as those across the country. During the tour, Xi met with officers at or above the regiment level and heard a report on the work of the command. He also visited telecom company compounds to talk with soldiers and learn about their work, study and life.