Political Work

Great Wall Watch | Uphold the Party's Political Development as the Overarching Guide

长城瞭望丨坚持以党的政治建设为统领

PLA Daily (解放军报) 23 June 2026

Summary

A National Conference on Party Development Work convened recently in Beijing produced guidance reaffirming Xi Jinping's thought on Party development as the authoritative framework for PLA political work, with the conference explicitly prioritizing political development as the overarching guide over all other forms of Party building. The article documents the institutional problem the PLA has repeatedly acknowledged since the 18th Party Congress: that weakened political loyalty, factional behavior, and corruption among senior cadres required structural correction, and that cadre selection, anti-corruption enforcement, and ideological conformity remain the primary levers. It extends a well-established pattern of post-2012 political consolidation content, but its specific value is as a baseline record of how the PLA frames the hierarchy of Party-building priorities—political development above organizational, disciplinary, or capability development—for consumption by officers at the unit level.

Translation

Clearly and unequivocally upholding politics (旗帜鲜明讲政治) is the fundamental requirement of our Party as a Marxist political party. The Party's political development is the Party's foundational development, determining the direction and effectiveness of Party development.

Recently, the National Conference on Party Development Work was convened in Beijing. The conference noted that Xi Jinping's thought on Party development is the fundamental guide for strengthening Party development in the new era, and this thought explicitly puts forward the principle of "upholding the Party's political development as the overarching guide." Party leadership and Party development are the key to our military's development, and strengthening the military's Party development must give full play to the leading role of the Party's political development.

Every political party has a political character, and political character is the primary attribute of a political party. Marxist political parties possess lofty political ideals, noble political pursuits, pure political character, and strict political discipline. If a Marxist political party loses its political vanguard nature, there is no basis on which to speak of the Party's vanguard nature and purity. As a Marxist political party, our Party faces "four major tests" and "four types of dangers" that are long-term and acute, and the factors that affect the Party's vanguard nature and weaken the Party's purity are complex. We must clearly and unequivocally uphold politics and persist in upholding the Party's political development as the overarching guide.

Our Party has always emphasized building the Party from a political standpoint. From the Gutian Conference establishing the principles of ideological Party-building and political army-building, to the Party's Seventh National Congress proposing to "place primary emphasis first on ideological and political development"; from Comrade Mao Zedong's postulation after the founding of the People's Republic of China that "political work is the lifeblood of all economic work," to Comrade Deng Xiaoping's emphasis during the reform and opening-up period that "at no time can we stop talking about politics," and then to Chairman Xi's observation in the new era that "upholding politics is the fundamental guarantee for our Party to replenish calcium, strengthen bones, and build a healthy body"... Looking back on the journey, our Party has consistently upheld political development as the foundation and soul of Party development, providing an important guarantee for continuous growth and strength, and for advancing from one victory to the next.

"Many problems within the Party are connected to political problems; the cause is that the Party's political development has not been grasped tightly, grasped solidly, or grasped well." Since the Party's Eighteenth National Congress, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has placed the Party's political development in a prominent position, advancing comprehensive and strict Party governance with enormous political courage and clear political orientation, using the rectification of conduct, enforcement of discipline, and anti-corruption efforts to consolidate the hearts of the Party, the military, and the people. This reversed the situation in certain domains of weakened Party leadership, deficient Party development, and inadequate Party governance and administration, eliminated serious political hidden dangers within the Party, and drove the Party's political development to achieve major historic accomplishments. Practice has fully demonstrated that if the Party's political development is neglected or if one deviates from the direction guided by the Party's political development, it will be difficult for the Party's other areas of development to achieve the expected results.

"The golden star shines on the military flag; our principle is that the Party commands the gun..." Upholding the Party's absolute leadership over the military is the political character and fundamental advantage that completely distinguishes our military from all old-type armies. For our military, the most fundamental aspect of strengthening the Party's political development is ensuring the Party's absolute leadership over the military. The emphasis is on educating and guiding the entire military, especially senior cadres, to resolutely safeguard the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership, and to always maintain a high degree of alignment with the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core on political stance, political direction, political principles, and political path.

Strengthening the military's Party political development requires upholding the original aspiration (守初心) in firmly establishing political conviction. Marxism is the fundamental guiding ideology for the founding of our Party and our nation. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is contemporary Chinese Marxism and twenty-first-century Marxism, and is the action guide for the entire Party and the people of the whole country in their struggle to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Strengthening the Party's political development requires in-depth study and implementation of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, persisting in reading the original works, studying the original texts, and comprehending the original principles, tempering the original aspiration and mission through study, reflection, and practice, continuously raising Marxist ideological consciousness and theoretical level, persistently tightening the "master switch" of ideals and convictions, solidifying the foundation of faith, replenishing the calcium of the spirit, and steadying the rudder of thought.

Strengthening the military's Party political development requires making real efforts in reinforcing political leadership. Upholding the Party's political leadership—most importantly, upholding the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership—is the primary task of the Party's political development. This requires us to unwaveringly uphold the fundamental principle and system of the Party's absolute leadership over the military, to genuinely strengthen the "four consciousnesses" (四个意识), firmly establish the "four confidences" (四个自信), and achieve the "two upholds" (两个维护), to implement the system of Chairman of the Central Military Commission responsibility, to maintain a high degree of alignment with the Party Central Committee, the Central Military Commission, and Chairman Xi in thought, politics, and action, to resolutely follow the commands of the Party Central Committee, the Central Military Commission, and Chairman Xi, and to truly transform the Party's political advantages and organizational advantages into advantages for achieving victory.

Strengthening the military's Party political development requires producing results in improving political capability. Political capability is paramount. Implementing the Party's political development in the development of the cadre corps means continuously improving the ability of leading cadres at all levels, especially senior cadres, to grasp direction, grasp the overall trend, and grasp the overall situation, as well as their ability to distinguish political right from wrong, maintain political steadiness (政治定力), manage the political situation, and guard against political risks. Party organizations and Party member cadres at all levels of the military should, when encountering matters, think more about political requirements; when handling affairs, think more about political rules; and when dealing with situations, think more about political impact. They should continuously strengthen political judgment (政治判断力), political comprehension (政治领悟力), and political execution (政治执行力), and genuinely enhance the practical ability to comprehend decision-making intentions from a political standpoint, to plan and advance work, and to manage complex situations.

Strengthening the military's Party political development requires sustained, long-term effort in cultivating the political ecosystem (政治生态). As foundational and routine work in the Party's political development, fostering a healthy political ecosystem is a long-term task that requires dredging the source and nurturing the forest, cultivating righteousness and consolidating the foundation, persisting without letup, and working toward results over the long term. The selection and appointment of personnel directly affects the direction of the political ecosystem; the standard for good military cadres must be implemented, and efforts must be made to rectify the unit's atmosphere through the orientation of personnel appointment. Party conduct and clean governance development is the focal point of political ecosystem development; it is necessary to persist in using a strict keynote to reinforce the rectification of conduct and enforcement of discipline, and with the resolve and will to forever sound the charge, to persist in investigating every instance of corruption and purging every instance of graft. Intra-Party political culture exerts a subtle and pervasive influence on the political ecosystem; it is necessary to attach importance to cultivating a positive and healthy political culture.

Original Chinese

旗帜鲜明讲政治是我们党作为马克思主义政党的根本要求。党的政治建设是党的根本性建设，决定党的建设方向和效果。近日，全国党建工作座谈会在京召开，会议指出，习近平党建思想是加强新时代党的建设的根本遵循，这一思想鲜明提出“坚持以党的政治建设为统领”。党的领导和党的建设是我军建设发展的关键，加强军队党的建设，必须充分发挥党的政治建设的统领作用。任何政党都有政治属性，政治属性是政党的第一属性。马克思主义政党具有崇高政治理想、高尚政治追求、纯洁政治品质、严明政治纪律。如果马克思主义政党政治上的先进性丧失了，党的先进性和纯洁性就无从谈起。我们党作为马克思主义政党，面临的“四大考验”、“四种危险”是长期的、尖锐的，影响党的先进性、弱化党的纯洁性的因素是复杂的，必须旗帜鲜明讲政治，坚持以党的政治建设为统领。我们党历来注重从政治上建设党。从古田会议确立思想建党、政治建军原则，到党的七大提出“首先着重在思想上、政治上进行建设”；从新中国成立后毛泽东同志提出“政治工作是一切经济工作的生命线”，到改革开放时期邓小平同志强调“到什么时候都得讲政治”，再到新时代以来习主席指出“讲政治，是我们党补钙壮骨、强身健体的根本保证”……回首征程，我们党始终坚持把政治建设作为党的建设的根基和灵魂，为不断发展壮大、从胜利走向胜利提供了重要保证。 “党内存在的很多问题都同政治问题相关联，原因都是党的政治建设没有抓紧、没有抓实、没有抓好。”党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央把党的政治建设摆上突出位置，以巨大政治勇气、鲜明政治导向推进全面从严治党，以正风肃纪反腐凝聚党心军心民心，扭转了一些领域党的领导弱化、党的建设缺失、管党治党不力状况，消除了党内严重政治隐患，推动党的政治建设取得重大历史性成就。实践充分证明，不抓党的政治建设或背离党的政治建设指引的方向，党的其他建设就难以取得预期成效。 “金星闪耀在军旗上，我们的原则是党指挥枪……”坚持党对军队的绝对领导，这是我军完全区别于一切旧军队的政治特质和根本优势。对我军来说，加强党的政治建设最根本的是确保党对军队的绝对领导，重点是教育引导全军特别是高级干部坚决维护党中央权威和集中统一领导，始终在政治立场、政治方向、政治原则、政治道路上同以习近平同志为核心的党中央保持高度一致。加强军队党的政治建设，必须在坚定政治信仰上守初心。马克思主义是我们立党立国的根本指导思想。习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想是当代中国马克思主义、21世纪马克思主义，是全党全国人民为实现中华民族伟大复兴而奋斗的行动指南。加强党的政治建设，必须深入学习贯彻习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想，坚持读原著、学原文、悟原理，在学思践悟中砥砺初心使命，不断提高马克思主义思想觉悟和理论水平，持续拧紧理想信念“总开关”，筑牢信仰之基、补足精神之钙、把稳思想之舵。加强军队党的政治建设，必须在强化政治领导上下功夫。坚持党的政治领导，最重要的是坚持党中央权威和集中统一领导，这是党的政治建设的首要任务。这就要求我们必须毫不动摇坚持党对军队绝对领导的根本原则和制度，切实增强“四个意识”、坚定“四个自信”、做到“两个维护”，贯彻军委主席负责制，在思想上政治上行动上同党中央、中央军委和习主席保持高度一致，坚决听从党中央、中央军委和习主席指挥，真正把党的政治优势和组织优势转化为制胜优势。加强军队党的政治建设，必须在提高政治能力上见成效。政治能力是第一位的。党的政治建设落实到干部队伍建设上，就要不断提高各级领导干部特别是高级干部把握方向、把握大势、把握全局的能力，辨别政治是非、保持政治定力、驾驭政治局面、防范政治风险的能力。军队各级党组织和党员干部应做到遇事多想政治要求、办事多想政治规矩、处事多想政治影响，不断增强政治判断力、政治领悟力、政治执行力，切实增强从政治上领悟决策意图、谋划推动工作、驾驭复杂局面的实际本领。加强军队党的政治建设，必须在涵养政治生态上用长劲。作为党的政治建设的基础性、经常性工作，营造良好政治生态是一项长期任务，需要浚其源、涵其林，养正气、固根本，锲而不舍、久久为功。选人用人直接影响着政治生态走向，必须贯彻军队好干部标准，努力以用人导向纯正单位风向；党风廉政建设是政治生态建设的重点，必须坚持以严的基调强化正风肃纪，以永远吹冲锋号的决心和意志坚持有腐必反、有贪必肃；党内政治文化潜移默化影响着政治生态，必须重视培育积极健康的政治文化土壤。