从严治军 (congyan zhijun): Strict military discipline

The Central Military Commission issued a circular on Thursday requiring efforts to strictly discipline Communist Party of China members in the military. The document came as the latest move to strengthen military discipline under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, who is also the commission chairman.

The circular called on CPC members in the People's Liberation Army to strictly follow the Party's instructions and maintain firm discipline. The document demanded strict supervision over, inspections of, and punishment for any violations of the rules. It said CPC discipline should be regarded as "iron rules", there should be no "hidden pass" in implementing discipline and there should be no exceptions. According to media reports, a total of 11 regulations ranging from the promotion of military officers to supervision over the secretaries of senior military leaders have been issued so far this year. The efforts to exert strict discipline in the PLA have intensified after a series of corruption cases involving senior military officers. For instance, former CMC vice-chairman Xu Caihou, who died of bladder cancer in March, was found taking advantage of his position to accept a huge sum of money in bribes by assisting the promotion of officers.