Military pledges total loyalty to Xi

The Chinese military will be absolutely loyal, pure, reliable, and resolutely follow the orders of Central Military Commission Chairman Xi Jinping, China's highest military authority has said.

The CMC recently issued a document on fully implementing the chairperson's responsibility system in the People's Liberation Army.

The amendment to the CPC Constitution clarified that the chairperson of the Central Military Commission assumes overall responsibility for the work of the commission and that the CMC is responsible for Party work and political work in the armed forces.

This complies with the realistic requirement to ensure the CMC fulfills its responsibility for Party self-supervision and self-governance.

Fully implementing the system is crucial to the fundamental direction of military construction, as well as building a strong nation with a strong military in the new era, the document said.

It is also related to the country's long-lasting peace and security, and the future of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The military has to support the responsibility system in politics, thought, organization, institutions and behavior. The entire military has to be "absolutely loyal, absolutely pure, absolutely reliable, resolutely follow Xi's orders, be responsible to Xi, and let Xi rest assured".

The document came amid Xi's visits to various military departments and related events.

On Friday, Xi, along with other CMC members, visited the PLA's joint combat command center in Beijing. On Thursday, the CMC promoted Zhang Shengmin — the 59-year-old top anti-corruption official in China's armed forces — to the rank of general.

On Oct 25, a day after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Xi held the first executive meeting of the Central Military Commission. A day later, Xi appeared at a meeting of top level military leaders, calling on them to work hard to enforce discipline in the armed forces.

Military officers welcomed and embraced Xi's remarks on improving the military's capabilities in preparing for and fighting wars in the new era.

"We must carve the word 'war' into our hearts, and be prepared to fight at any moment," Cui Jiabin, a brigade commander of an aviation unit, told Xinhua News Agency.

"We have to fuse the duties of preparing and training for war into our minds, and be a part of our consciousness," he said.

Xinhua contributed to this story.