Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping called on top Communist Party leaders to intensify their crackdown on corruption in the military and accelerate the modernization of the armed forces and national defense system, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
According to Thai News Agency, speaking at a meeting of the Politburo, China's highest decision-making body, President Xi Jinping emphasized that the military must be directly subordinate to the party's orders and called for the establishment of an intelligent military system, including increased use of unmanned aerial vehicles and deeper application of cyber information systems. Furthermore, Xinhua reported that Xi pointed out that in driving the high-quality modernization of national defense and the military, the fundamental direction and evaluation standard must always be based on combat effectiveness.
The Chinese leader's remarks and the Politburo meeting come ahead of the 99th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army on Saturday. Military analysts say that while this year's anniversary celebrations are expected to be modest, they will help highlight key goals for the upcoming 100th anniversary, a year in which the Communist Party aims for further advancements in the modernization and combat readiness of the army.
This crackdown on corruption in the military comes amid a February report from the Institute for Strategic International Research (IISS) in London, which stated that the crackdown is impacting combat readiness and creating problems in the Chinese military's command structure. The US Department of Defense stated last year that the US military believes Chinese leaders want the military to be ready to win any cross-strait conflict by 2027. However, recent assessments from the US intelligence community indicate that Beijing has no plans to invade Taiwan in 2027 and still desires to control the island without using military force.