'Not done even in Mao Zedong’s times': Chinese military gets new rules to control top commanders’ social lives

China’s top military body has released a new set of regulations governing the social activities of serving as well as retired senior officers of the People’s Liberation Army, according to a report. According to a South China Morning Post report, the new rules were recently approved by the Central Military Commission chaired by President Xi Jinping in an effort to further tighten control. The new rules were jointly promulgated by the political and disciplinary departments of the PLA. Citing a front page story of PLA Daily on Monday, the report said the rules included “specific requirements and concrete demands in eight areas” without giving further details. The rules set out a code of conduct for dealing with Communist Party officials, government bodies and state-owned enterprises, social organisations, the media, academic and research bodies, ethnic minority and religious groups, foreign institutions and family members as well as people they meet online, according to the report. “Political and disciplinary bodies will carry out their supervisory responsibilities, look out for and correct any problems that are in violation of the rules or the law,” the report said citingthe PLA Daily. “(They will) hold any of the leading cadres who have been found responsible for dereliction of duty and instil a strong sense of party spirit among them and encourage them to practice self-discipline so that [the leading cadres] will live a clean social life publicly, and among their families and friends,” it said. “(The goal) is that their social life is principled, has boundaries and is based upon rules.” Reacting to the development, Ni Lexiong, a professor of political science at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said this was an unprecedented move (for the PLA). “This is an unprecedented move (for the PLA) to have a set of codes on social life for the senior cadres,” South China Morning Post report quoted Ni Lexiong as saying. “This has not been done even in Mao Zedong’s times,” Ni added. Ni explained that the rules were needed to “keep up with changing times” since engagement between PLA generals and retired officers with local party and government leaders, businesses and social bodies was inevitable and the influence of social media and the online world had grown significantly. “For example, the consumption of heavy liquor was a tradition among some senior officers although it was banned after Xi became the head of the Central Military Commission in 2012,” he said. “I believe it will be spelled out in the new rules again that this is not allowed,” Ni was quoted as saying in the report. Citing a PLA source, the report said that the new rules, which target leading cadres of the military, would also be applied to retired generals, who are known to wield considerable influence over the younger leaders. “Many retired generals are active in religious and cultural groups, and their presence in these bodies can sometimes be used by others for profiteering, creating very bad social effects,” the report quoted the source as saying. Zhou Chenming, a researcher with the Beijing-based Yuan Wang military science and technology think tank, told South China Morning Post that the new rules were likely aimed at eradicating the legacy of two disgraced former CMC vice-chairmen and generals, Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou. Guo and Xu are the most senior PLA leaders purged by Xi in an anti-corruption campaign that started in 2013. The pair were accused of accepting bribes from other officers in return for promotions. Guo is serving a life sentence for corruption and Xu died in 2015 when he was under investigation. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .