Special Issue on Building the Military Through Politics · Forging Essentials | When Talent Flourishes, the Military Flourishes
When Talent Flourishes, the Military Flourishes
■ Xin Shihong
To build a strong nation, we must build a strong military; to build a strong military, we must first build strong talent.
Talent is the key factor in driving our military's high-quality development and in seizing the initiative in military competition and future wars. In opening up a new landscape for building a strong military and invigorating the armed forces, talent is the most foundational and most critical element; in building a world-class military, talent is also the most urgent and most needed element.
At this year's National Two Sessions (全国两会), when Chairman Xi attended the plenary session of the delegation of the People's Liberation Army and the People's Armed Police Force, he emphasized the need to strengthen the building of a revolutionized (革命化) and specialized (专业化) talent contingent, to persistently use the Party's innovative theories to forge the soul and cultivate people, to solidly lay the ideological foundation for officers and soldiers to heed the Party's words and follow the Party's lead, and to ensure that modernized weapons and equipment remain in the hands of a revolutionized talent contingent.
Revolutionization determines the political character, loyalty, and value pursuits of talent; specialization underpins talent's ability to win battles, fulfill duties, and innovate. The two complement each other and are inseparable.
When talent flourishes, the military flourishes. Our military must give full play to the unique advantages of building the military through politics (政治建军), comprehensively implement the strategy of strengthening the military through talent (人才强军) in the new era, and, with more proactive, more dynamic, and more effective talent policies, forge a large-scale, structurally sound, and high-quality revolutionized and specialized military talent formation (人才方阵).
Striving through one hundred years of army-building, pressing forward toward a first-class strong military. The People's Army, which is about to celebrate its centennial, calls for an abundance of talent, a gathering of outstanding figures, elite soldiers and strong commanders, and ten thousand horses galloping forward.
I
At the founding of New China, with everything in ruins and waiting to be rebuilt, large numbers of talented people were urgently needed to serve national construction. In February 1950, Zhu Guangya, who had earned a doctorate from the University of Michigan, declined generous treatment abroad and returned to the motherland he had missed day and night. Before returning, he took the lead in drafting "An Open Letter to Fellow Students Studying in the United States," and soon 52 patriotic sons and daughters who had decided to return to the embrace of the motherland signed their names to this open letter.
Inspired by this open letter, a large number of experts, scholars, and outstanding overseas students returned to work in China, making major contributions to the development of New China's various undertakings, especially in science and technology. Today, in the Malan Martyrs' Cemetery, the tombstone of Academician Zhu Guangya—a founding contributor to the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" (两弹一星) program—stands quietly.
Talent is the foundation of a strong nation; talent is the basis for realizing dreams. In today's world, competition for talent has become an important battlefield in the contest among great powers. Whoever possesses advanced talent holds the initiative in competition and development.
National development depends on talent; national rejuvenation depends on talent. As Chairman Xi has emphasized: "We are closer than at any other time in history to achieving the great goal of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and we are also more eager for talent than at any other time in history."
Victory is decided before battle is joined; victory is decided by talent. Military competition is, at its root, competition for talent. In modern warfare, without talent, with insufficient talent, or with talent of insufficient quality, it is impossible to win battles! Modernization efforts and preparations for military struggle certainly cannot do without funding and equipment support, but the most core issue is the question of talent.
In 1950, when Comrade Qian Xuesen proposed to return to China, then-U.S. Under Secretary of the Navy Dan Kimball resolutely opposed it, declaring: "Qian Xuesen is worth five Marine divisions; I would rather have him shot in America than let him leave." At that time, across the entire Korean battlefield, U.S. ground forces numbered seven divisions.
On February 1, 1956, Comrade Mao Zedong said to Qian Xuesen, who had already returned to China: "I hear the Americans consider you worth five divisions! In my view, for us, you are worth far more than five divisions!"
Talent resources are the primary resource; talent advantage is a decisive advantage. In the military domain, talent is the most dynamic, commanding, and transformative primary element; the degree to which all other elements are realized depends on the exercise of this element.
During the two years and nine months of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, one of the main reasons the Chinese People's Volunteer Army was able to defeat the United Nations forces led by the United States and win the great victory of the war was that our military had been tempered through more than twenty years of revolutionary warfare, and the broad ranks of officers and soldiers had acquired the ability and experience to defeat an enemy with superior equipment using inferior equipment—and in particular, a cohort of outstanding commanders had been cultivated who dared to ride into battle with swords raised, were courageous in shouldering responsibility for the nation, and were skilled at fighting decisive battles to achieve decisive victories.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, in response to problems such as "two large gaps" (两个差距很大), "two insufficient capabilities" (两个能力不够), and "five don't-knows" (五个不会), Chairman Xi has repeatedly issued to the entire military the "question of winning battles" (胜战之问), the "question of values" (价值叩问), and the "question of competence" (本领拷问). A very important reason these problems have arisen is that our military personnel's capability and quality are not comprehensive enough, their structural layout is not rational enough, and their development and management are not efficient enough.
New-type warfare calls for new-type talent. Whoever possesses more high-quality, specialized, new-type military talent will be able to seize the strategic initiative in military competition and lead in future warfare. Faced with changes in technology, changes in warfare, and changes in adversaries, to achieve victory on future battlefields, we must seize talent as the decisive factor, strive to forge a talent formation matched to the form of modern warfare, and use a powerful talent advantage to win battlefield superiority.
II
"On the banks of the Yellow River, a group of outstanding sons and daughters of the Chinese nation have gathered…" Yan'an, that red land that nurtured the Chinese revolution, gave birth to a famous military academy—the Chinese People's Anti-Japanese Military and Political University (抗日军政大学, "Kangda"). In just under ten years, Kangda ran eight classes, spawned fourteen branch schools, and cultivated more than 100,000 military and political cadres of both virtue and ability. In 1955, when the People's Liberation Army held its first conferral of military ranks, six marshals, eight generals, twenty-six lieutenant generals, forty-nine major generals, and one hundred and twenty-nine brigadier generals had worked or studied at Kangda.
In 1938, Comrade Mao Zedong personally came to Kangda to lecture on multiple occasions—"a small lecture every three days, a major lecture every five days." When answering the question "What should be studied at Kangda?", he told the students: "First, learn a political direction."
Not long ago, Chairman Xi personally decided to hold a training course for senior cadres of the entire military at the National Defense University, attended the opening ceremony, and delivered an important speech. He emphasized the need to be guided by the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, to thoroughly implement the Thought on Strengthening the Military for the New Era (新时代强军思想), to carry out ideological rectification (思想整风), to deepen political consolidation training (政治整训), to strengthen the revolutionary tempering (革命性锻造) of our military's cadre contingent, to always maintain the purity and glory of the People's Army, and to greet the centennial of the founding of the army with a completely new political bearing. This provided a profound lesson in ideological and political education, Party spirit forging, and warning education for cadres at all levels of the military, especially senior cadres.
The political standard is the foremost standard for our military's talent; the political requirement is the most fundamental requirement for our military's talent.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, the entire military has deeply studied and implemented Xi Jinping's Thought on Strengthening the Military, profoundly grasped Chairman Xi's important statements on strengthening the military through talent, consistently maintained the correct political direction in talent work, persisted in cultivating, examining, and employing talent from a political standpoint, implemented the standards for good cadres in the military, cultivated "Four-Haves" (四有) revolutionary soldiers for the new era, and carried the Party's absolute leadership over the military through every aspect and the entire process of talent work, ensuring that the barrel of the gun is always held in the hands of those who are loyal and reliable to the Party.
Proletarian parties and armies have always regarded the cultivation and selection of leading cadres who possess both virtue and ability as a major issue bearing on the overall situation. Lenin pointed out: "We must study people, we must find capable workers. That is where the key lies now."
Upholding the Party's management of cadres, the Party's management of talent, and organizational selection of personnel—highlighting the political attributes of cadre management and talent management—is a precious experience repeatedly validated over the Party's hundred years of struggle, and is also the basic principle by which our Party and military select and employ personnel. Our military's cadres are the Party's cadres; they are not the private property of any particular level or any particular individual, and we must absolutely never allow them to become something decided by a single person or a small number of people.
As early as 1938, Comrade Mao Zedong put forward the important idea of "the Party manages cadres" (党管干部) at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Party, establishing the principles of "selecting people on the basis of merit" (任人唯贤) and "combining virtue with ability" (才德兼备) for selecting and employing personnel, and thereby formulating and implementing a correct cadre line and cadre policy that guaranteed the victory of the revolution.
Our military is an armed group that carries out the Party's political tasks and is a strong pillar for defending the red country and upholding national dignity. Maintaining high standards and strict requirements for military talent in political terms is a concrete embodiment of our military's approach of building the military through politics and a key measure in strengthening the military through talent; it reflects the special nature of the military profession and the essential requirements of the laws governing the growth of military talent.
Strengthening the military must first mean being strong politically; being strong politically is the most fundamental form of strength. At all times, every level should run the political standard through the entire process of talent selection, cultivation, and employment; persist in cultivating, examining, and employing talent from a political standpoint; strengthen loyalty identification and political examination work; and ensure that the Party truly and firmly grasps the troops ideologically, politically, and organizationally.
III
Soldiers are born for war; talent is cultivated for war. Our military's talent work is, at its core, about preparing talent for war.
During the revolutionary war years, the Party and the military focused on everything for the front lines and everything for victory, relying on the practice of war to cultivate a large cohort of military talent who heeded the Party's command, were capable of fighting and winning, and were heroically unyielding. Compared with the war years, while our military's mission tasks have differed across different periods, the fundamental function as a fighting force has never changed, and the fundamental orientation of focusing on war preparedness and combat readiness to strengthen talent development has never changed.
In 1950, Comrade Liu Bocheng proactively requested to resign from key positions including Chairman of the Southwest Military and Administrative Committee and Commander of the Second Field Army, in order to establish military academies. That November, he was appointed President of the Military Academy. From the very beginning of running the academy, he vigorously promoted the ethos of studying war, teaching war, and learning war, putting forward: "Cultivating the talent needed to defeat present and future enemies is our sole objective. All courses must revolve around this objective." He also studied the latest battle cases and battlefield developments in connection with the then-ongoing War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, invited commanders who had returned from the front lines to give lectures, and arranged for a cohort of outstanding students to go to the foreign front lines for experiential observation.
Talent is like the keel of a warship; talent cultivation is "the most arduous war preparation." Chairman Xi has profoundly pointed out: "The military's insufficient capability to fight modern warfare and the insufficient capability of cadres at all levels to command modern warfare are, at their root, the insufficient capability and quality of the talent contingent."
"For extraordinary achievements, one must await extraordinary people." On the new journey, to enhance the capacity and level of talent supply for war preparedness and combat readiness, we must persist in calibrating to the capability requirements of "war," establishing the cultivation standards of "war," firmly establishing the talent-cultivation philosophy of "grounded in war" (基于战), and innovating the talent-cultivation model of "skilled at war" (善于战), so that the "front sight" of talent development is always aimed at the "target" of combat effectiveness development.
"Pure and clear love, only for China." This battle cry written by "post-2000" border defense soldier Chen Xiangrong before his death moved the entire nation. "The regimental commander stood at the very front to block the foreign troops; the battalion commander rescued the regimental commander; soldiers rescued the battalion commander; squad leaders rescued soldiers." Those figures who pressed forward one after another, daring to fight and determined to win, built an indestructible steel Great Wall.
Whatever kind of talent is needed for war, that is the kind of talent to cultivate and employ. Every level should make the ability to fight and win battles the starting point and ultimate goal of talent work; persist in the combat effectiveness standard; persist in keeping a firm grip on powerful adversaries; persist in vigorously conducting realistic combat military training (实战化军事训练); thoroughly sweep away the peacetime maladies inconsistent with the requirements of war preparedness and combat readiness; select and employ the worthy without being bound by convention; continuously enhance the capacity and level of talent supply for war preparedness and combat readiness; and ensure that our military's talent is capable of commanding modern warfare and effectively fulfilling mission tasks in the new era.
In those years, the Japanese military's Okamura Yasuji once boasted: "I would rather sacrifice twenty Japanese soldiers to exchange for one Kangda student, and sacrifice fifty Japanese soldiers to exchange for one Kangda cadre." Why were Kangda students able to fight? This was due to our Party and military's emphasis on giving full play to the university's function of "winning battles" and its role as a "crucible," stressing learning warfare through warfare, regularly organizing instructors and students to directly participate in combat, and improving their capabilities through the baptism of fire.
The capability standard for winning battles is not fixed; it continuously changes with the development of war practice. Compared with winning mechanized warfare, winning informatized and intelligentized warfare (信息化智能化战争) places new demands on the capability structure of talent. This also determines that enhancing the capacity and level of talent supply for war preparedness and combat readiness has only a present tense and no past tense—it requires sustained effort and long-term commitment.
IV
The biography of Qian Xuesen recounts the following story: On the evening of February 1, 1956, Comrade Mao Zedong hosted a banquet at Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai for all delegates attending the Second Session of the Second National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. The invitation Qian Xuesen received showed his seat at Table 37. When he arrived at the banquet hall, however, a staff member led him to the seat at Table 1, immediately to the right of Mao Zedong—the position of the foremost honored guest in Chinese traditional etiquette. This fully reflected the Party's and the state's eagerness for and emphasis on talent, and also ignited the strong desire of more overseas scientists to return to work in China.
He who wishes to catch fish must first clear the waterway; he who wishes to attract birds must first plant trees. To forge a powerful magnetic field that attracts and concentrates talent, Party organizations and leading cadres at all levels must proactively cultivate a growth environment that respects talent and earnestly seeks the worthy; a living environment with appropriate treatment and freedom from worry; and an institutional environment of fairness, equality, and competitive selection of the best—providing strong support for talent in their work and effective guarantees in their lives, so that they can devote themselves wholeheartedly to their undertakings.
In 1978, at the opening ceremony of the National Science Conference, Comrade Deng Xiaoping said: "I am willing to serve as the logistics minister for everyone, and willing to work together with leading comrades of Party committees at all levels to do this work well." Seven years later, at the National Education Work Conference, he again stated: "I once said I was willing to serve as the logistics minister for comrades in education and science and technology departments. Today, I still hold that attitude." This spirit and work style of willingly serving as the "logistics minister" for talent not only greatly encouraged and energized the broad ranks of talented people, but also established a clear orientation of respecting knowledge and respecting talent.
Chairman Xi has pointed out: "We must create a good environment for innovation, accelerate the formation of a cultivation mechanism conducive to talent growth, an employment mechanism conducive to making the best use of talent, an incentive mechanism conducive to competitive growth and the full display of individual abilities, and a competition mechanism conducive to the emergence of all types of talent; cultivate fertile soil for talent growth, so that talent's root systems become more developed and one crop after another grows up strong."
In those years, Mr. Lu Xun, confronting the social reality of old China where "ten thousand horses stand mute—what a lament" (万马齐喑究可哀), called out loudly: to produce geniuses, one must first become the soil that nurtures geniuses—"for example, if you want tall trees and beautiful flowers, you must first have good soil"; "the merit of being soil is more immediate than demanding geniuses."
To create a good environment for identifying, loving, respecting, and employing talent, Party organizations and leading cadres at all levels must persist in the unity of strict management and caring trust; give full political trust to all types of talent, proactively guide them ideologically, create conditions for them in their work, and care for them in their lives; rectify the chronic problem of only wanting to control talent; establish the philosophy of serving talent and removing constraints on talent—thereby fully stimulating the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the broad ranks of talented people in their work and undertakings.
In the course of leading the establishment of the Harbin Military Engineering Institute, Comrade Chen Geng showed great respect for experts and professors, serving them with wholehearted enthusiasm and providing convenience for their scientific research work. He often said that instructors are those who "cook the food," students are those who "eat the food," and leaders are those who "carry the plates." It was precisely with this spirit of willingly "carrying plates" for talent that the "Harbin Military Engineering Institute" (哈军工) produced generation after generation of outstanding talent.
Mountains are never too high; seas are never too deep. For all types of talent, if Party organizations and leading cadres at all levels care about both their material needs and their spiritual needs, both create conditions for them in their work and help them resolve difficulties in their lives, they will certainly be able to open up a vibrant situation in which everyone aspires to develop talent, everyone strives to develop talent, everyone can develop talent, and everyone gives full play to their talent.
V
The story of Mao Sui recommending himself is familiar to many, but few know how Mao Sui's life ended. There is a popular account that goes: Mao Sui stood out in the state of Zhao because of his outstanding eloquence, but when faced with an invasion by the state of Yan, King Xiaocheng of Zhao insisted on sending Mao Sui to lead the army into battle. The result was that Mao Sui, whose tongue was hard but whose fists were soft, was quickly and disastrously defeated—"Mao Sui recommending himself" (毛遂自荐) ultimately became "Mao Sui taking his own life" (毛遂自刎).
"Each talent has what it is suited for; use it in the right way and talent shines; use it in the wrong way and talent dims." Talent is cultivated, but even more so it is brought out through use. Simply put, this means using people according to their strengths, at the right time, and in the right position, so as to maximize the value of talent.
"In governing all under heaven, the only foundation is the use of people; all else is secondary." Selecting and employing people has always been the "root of survival or destruction, the pivot of order or chaos" for a nation and a military.
Chairman Xi has profoundly pointed out: "Employ one worthy person and all worthy persons will come; when people see the worthy and think to emulate them, it becomes a prevailing trend. Whom you select is a weather vane; it determines what kind of cadre work style there will be, and indeed what kind of Party conduct there will be."
"Employ the upright and those who do good will all be encouraged; mistakenly employ the wicked and those who are not good will compete to advance." Whether the selection and employment of people is fair, good, and accurate not only bears on the overall situation of military development and the outcome of future wars, but also bears on the cohesion of hearts and minds, and carries a very important guiding function.
By what standard to select people and what kind of people to select is the foremost question in cadre work. When those who are good at currying favor crowd out those who are good at getting things done, when those skilled at scheming displace those skilled at studying warfare, and "bad currency" openly drives out "good currency"—like discarding a great bell and amplifying the noise of a clay pot—this will inevitably inflict fatal harm on the military.
In May 1930, the Red Fifth Army surrounded Xiushui County Town, with its subordinate Fifth Column assigned the main assault. Because the city walls were solid and easy to defend but hard to attack, the column launched several charges without breaking through. At the critical moment, Huang Kecheng, Political Commissar of the Eighth Detachment, volunteered for the mission and led officers and soldiers in launching another attack. He took the lead, climbing the scaling ladder first, with officers and soldiers following close behind. After a night of fierce fighting, the Red Army annihilated the defending enemy and captured Xiushui County Town. Peng Dehuai, then serving as army commander, firmly remembered the bespectacled man who was the first to scale the city wall, and said with great admiration: "One battle lets us know one person; the battle of Xiushui let us know Huang Kecheng."
In the war years, a hundred battles produced a hundred commanders. To assess a cadre's capabilities, one looked primarily at performance on the battlefield; after several fierce and hard battles, who was superior and who was inferior was plain to see. Comrade Li Desheng once vividly said: "The standard for selecting cadres in the war years was very simple: first, whether one could wield a broadsword against the enemy; second, whether one's voice was loud enough to command and awe people."
"Of all difficult matters, none is more difficult than knowing people; of all important matters, none is more important than knowing people." In peacetime, with the yardstick of knowing people through battle gone, whether one can precisely identify outstanding cadres in all respects and employ them rationally—giving talent the optimal configuration and enabling them to play the greatest role—is undoubtedly an extremely challenging subject.
"Are there no thousand-li horses in the world? It is rare to find a Jiufang Gao among men." Party organizations and leading cadres at all levels should cultivate and select cadres according to the standards for good cadres in the military; seize on the key point and focal point of incentivizing cadres to take on responsibilities and act; and build a quality cultivation system, a system for knowing affairs and identifying people, a selection and appointment system, a strict management system, and a positive incentive system with the characteristics of our military. Persist in selecting and employing people with integrity and impartiality; put to use cadres who are loyal, clean, and willing to take on responsibilities; configure leadership bodies at all levels well; retain high-level talent and urgently needed talent; give those who run around seeking favors, those who demand things, and those who coast along no opportunity to exploit—and strive to form a healthy atmosphere in which those who want to fight remain, those who can fight are employed, and those who win battles advance.
VI
For any political party, any nation, any military, a hundred years is a major historical milestone of extraordinary significance.
Achieving the centennial goal of army-building on schedule is the military order we have pledged to the Party and the people; it is a hard task that bears on the overall situation, must be accomplished without fail, and admits no loss.
At present, our military is, in accordance with the new "three-step" strategic arrangement for national defense and military modernization, continuing to fight the decisive battle to achieve the centennial goal of army-building. Profound transformations are occurring across military theory, weapons and equipment, organizational forms, and military personnel.
The core of military modernization is the modernization of people. Faced with the new situation of international strategic competition, the new trends in the evolution of warfare forms, and the new circumstances in the development of the cause of strengthening the military, we must strengthen the sense of urgency that we cannot afford to wait and the sense of crisis that we cannot afford to slow down, ensure that the modernization of military personnel achieves major progress, and achieve major breakthroughs in talent in key domains—providing a strong talent guarantee and intellectual support for achieving the centennial goal of army-building on schedule.
— Anchor to the "four categories of talent" (四类人才) and advance systematically. Chairman Xi has explicitly pointed out the need to systematically advance the cultivation of "four categories of talent": joint operations command, new-type combat forces, high-level scientific and technological innovation, and high-level strategic management—achieving coordinated development between the capability and quality of people and the practice of strengthening the military. Different eras place different demands on military talent. Every step forward in the practice of strengthening the military is inseparable from the powerful driving force of talent; every leap in the capability and quality of talent is closely attuned to the pulse of the times in the practice of strengthening the military. These "four categories of talent" are what is urgently needed for current war preparedness and combat readiness and the focus of military development. Only by continuously strengthening the strategic layout of talent work and innovating talent cultivation models—accelerating the advancement of military talent's scientific and technological literacy to keep pace with the development of the military revolution, command literacy to keep pace with the evolution of modern warfare, and governance literacy to keep pace with the needs of high-quality development—can the military talent contingent keep up with the pace of the times, match strategic demands, and support the mission of winning battles.
— Concentrate the "trinity" (三位一体) talent-cultivation synergy. Military academy education, unit training practice, and military professional education, as the "three horses" of new-type military talent cultivation, are both interrelated and mutually connected, yet also functionally distinct and each with its own emphasis; the three constitute an organically unified whole. It takes ten years to grow a tree; it takes a hundred years to cultivate people. Party organizations at all levels should strengthen the educational concept of "the entire military runs education, jointly cultivates talent" (全军办教育、联合育人才), treat talent cultivation as a long-term plan, effectively connect the talent cultivation chain linking academies and units, theory and practice, classrooms and battlefields, give full play to the leading role of teaching, stimulate the intrinsic motivation of learning, establish the realistic combat standard of training, and enhance the comprehensive effectiveness of management—truly achieving joint cultivation, open cultivation, and full-process cultivation.
— Innovate military human resource management. To do our military's talent work well and advance the modernization of military personnel, scientific and effective management plays an important role. We should innovate management concepts and methods, comprehensively advance reform and innovation across all aspects of identifying, concentrating, cultivating, and employing talent, and drive the comprehensive transformation and upgrading of military personnel's capability and quality, structural layout, and development and management. Continuously deepen the reform of military human resource policies and systems; systematically plan career development paths for all categories of personnel; strengthen the supporting development of policies and systems; form a talent cultivation and employment model with the characteristics of our military; let the creative vitality of all types of talent burst forth in competition and their wisdom and abilities flow fully—and strive to write a new chapter in building a strong military and invigorating the armed forces that is worthy of our revolutionary forebears, worthy of the century-long foundation, and worthy of this great era.