Firmly Establish the Keynote Orientation of Stricter Standards as Time Goes On and Stricter Standards at Higher Levels

Firmly Establish the Keynote Orientation of Stricter Standards as Time Goes On and Stricter Standards at Higher Levels

■ Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, National Defense University

Editor's Note: Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, our Party and our military have consistently maintained the keynote of strictness without wavering, unswervingly advancing comprehensive strict governance of the Party (全面从严治党) and comprehensive strict governance of the military (全面从严治军), advancing the normalization and institutionalization of political rectification and training (政治整训), with new conduct and upright spirit continuously rising. This further demonstrates the firm resolve of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core to leave marks on iron and imprints on stone (抓铁有痕、踏石留印), and the keynote orientation of stricter standards as time goes on and stricter standards at higher levels. Striving forward on the new journey of strengthening the military, we must profoundly comprehend the far-reaching political considerations behind ever-increasing strictness, and with the clarity and resolve of those who understand this is a permanent endeavor, run the keynote orientation of strictness throughout every process and aspect of building the military through politics (政治建军), ensuring that our military's lifeblood endures forever, its foundations remain forever solid, and its advantages forever persist.

Paddling upstream, one cannot afford to ease the pole even once. "Strictness" is the consistent principle by which our Party builds and governs the military, and is the intrinsic requirement of political rectification and training. Stricter standards as time goes on and stricter standards at higher levels—this is a requirement, and even more a trend. At the historical juncture of the strategic transition of the new "three-step" strategy for national defense and military modernization, we must consistently uphold comprehensive strictness, thorough strictness, and constant strictness, continuously deepen political rectification and training, strengthen the revolutionary tempering (革命性锻造) of our military's officer corps, consistently maintain the purity and glory of the people's army, and greet the centenary of the founding of the military with a wholly new political bearing.

I

The way of governing the military: what is gained through strictness is lost through leniency. Stricter standards as time goes on and stricter standards at higher levels establish, from the dimensions of temporal continuity and the criticality of the subjects involved respectively, the keynote orientation for continuously deepening political rectification and training. This will inevitably further rectify the source politically (正本清源), eliminate toxic influences ideologically (肃毒除弊), and excise corruption and regenerate healthy tissue organizationally (去腐生肌), consolidating and deepening the results of political rectification and training, and ensuring our military's absolute loyalty, absolute purity, and absolute reliability.

An imperative requirement for ensuring strict military law and discipline. Rigorously enforcing the rule of law and maintaining strict military discipline is both a summation and elevation of the experience of building the military through politics in the new era, and an iron law of governing and commanding troops throughout history. From the very day of its founding, the people's army has attached great importance to cultivating conduct and discipline; strict law and discipline has always been the magic weapon by which our military defeats the enemy and grows in strength. However, governing the military prizes strictness above all, and difficulty lies precisely in strictness. Without constant vigilance, situations of laxity, emptiness, and softness may emerge, and tendencies of being strict with others but not oneself, strict with subordinates but not superiors, and strict with soldiers but not officers may appear. It must be understood that the higher a leading cadre's position and the greater their power, the more they need to be the focus of disciplinary constraints. The more the situation develops and the more complex the environment, the more necessary it is to tighten the screws of law and discipline and reinforce the institutional cage. Only by using the keynote of strictness to rectify conduct and discipline, running the requirements of strictness throughout the entire process, all personnel, and all times of law and discipline building, maintaining zero tolerance for violations of discipline and law and investigating and punishing them severely, can a crack force of strict discipline capable of winning battles be forged.

An imperative requirement for continuously deepening political rectification and training. Political rectification and training "rectifies" (整) toxic influences, entrenched maladies (顽瘴痼疾), and unhealthy tendencies, and "trains" (训) political stance, political capability, and political responsibility. Continuously deepening political rectification and training—whether it is rectifying ideology, rectifying the use of personnel, rectifying organizations, rectifying conduct, and rectifying discipline, or purifying thought, purifying the ranks, and purifying the ecosystem—cannot be separated from strict requirements, strict measures, and strict execution. Only by persisting in stricter standards as time goes on, consistently maintaining undiminished intensity of rectification, undiminished standards, and undiminished vigor, can we continuously turn the blade inward (刀刃向内), eliminate the turbid and promote the upright (激浊扬清), and scrape the bone to cure the disease (刮骨疗毒), making a thorough break with chronic ailments and entrenched abuses, hidden rules and bad habits. Only by persisting in stricter standards at higher levels, keeping a close watch on the "critical few" (关键少数) to take the lead in rectification and correction, can we transmit pressure level by level and demonstrate leadership tier by tier, driving political rectification and training to extend from concentrated rectification to normalized governance, and to deepen from surface-level correction to root-cause resolution.

An imperative requirement for maintaining the purity and glory of our military. Purity and glory are the true character, the advantage, and the source of strength of our military. Whether purity and glory can be maintained concerns our military's political character, concerns the image of the Party and the military, and concerns whether the people's army can forever stand in an invincible position. The purity and glory of the people's army cannot be maintained naturally simply with the passage of time. Our military has never lived in a vacuum; the temptations of material interests and the intrusions of ideological and cultural influences it now faces are all the more complex and varied, and the viruses that affect the purity of the revolutionary ranks and corrupt the image of revolutionary soldiers are everywhere. These problems warn us: strictness is love, leniency is harm. The keynote of stricter standards as time goes on must never be lowered, and the orientation of stricter standards at higher levels must never change. Standards must be higher and requirements stricter. We must resolutely eliminate all factors that damage the purity of the military, restore and carry forward the fine traditions of our Party and our military, allow new conduct and upright spirit to be even more abundant in the forces, and ensure our military never changes its nature, never changes its color, and never changes its character (永远不变质、不变色、不变味).

II

Political rectification and training is not a passing wind, but a normalized, deep-level, and sustained political tempering (政治淬炼) and reshaping of conduct. We must resolutely correct ideological deviations, overcome negative sentiments, and discard erroneous understandings, ensuring that the orientation of strictness never deviates, its intensity never diminishes, and its standards never decline.

Resolutely discard the thinking of expediency and one-time measures. Thought is the precursor to action; consensus is the driving force for advancement. Stricter standards as time goes on and stricter standards at higher levels—first, one must profoundly recognize that establishing the keynote orientation of strictness is not a temporary addition or a short, sharp campaign, but a fundamental strategy that governs the root and benefits the long term. Chairman Xi has repeatedly emphasized: "conduct building is always on the road," "Party conduct and clean government building and the struggle against corruption are always on the road," and "comprehensive strict governance of the Party is always on the road." As the situation develops, the mission expands, and risk tests continuously accumulate, deep-level conduct abuses and ideological ailments have an entrenched and recurring character and cannot be thoroughly eradicated by a single rectification or a single concentrated assault. On the new journey, continuously deepening political rectification and training must thoroughly discard the mentality of passing a checkpoint and the attitude of going through the motions, firmly establish the concept of constant and sustained strictness and normalized strictness, and persist in never relaxing the requirements of strictness for even a moment and never lowering the standards of strictness for even a moment.

Resolutely overcome the sentiment of slackening effort and battle fatigue. Governance prizes consistency; administration requires regularity. Stricter standards as time goes on and stricter standards at higher levels—the key lies in overcoming fatigue and weariness, and maintaining the tenacity for sustained assault. At present, political rectification and training continues to go deeper and become more substantive; deep-level contradictions are gradually emerging; the difficulty of rectification and correction continues to increase; and it is very easy for negative tendencies such as slackness, paralysis, and passive fatigue to breed. Once a "resting mentality" takes hold, it is easy for problems to rebound, causing previously achieved results to come to nothing. This requires us to press forward without pause, seize the momentum, eliminate the notion of "catching one's breath and resting one's feet," and the more arduous the task and the longer the duration, the more we must tighten the string of strictness and press down the responsibility for correction, continuously applying pressure and effort to achieve lasting results.

Resolutely prevent the understanding that the wind is shifting and standards are being lowered or changed. Those who are skilled at eliminating harm examine its root; those who are skilled at treating illness cut off its source. Stricter standards as time goes on and stricter standards at higher levels—the fundamental point is to maintain strategic resolve (战略定力), hold the bottom line of strictness, and break through the erroneous understanding that "the wind has changed and standards have dropped." Chairman Xi has clearly pointed out: once the bow is drawn there is no turning back—Party conduct and clean government building and the struggle against corruption is a struggle that cannot be lost. In recent years, we have put a stop to certain unhealthy tendencies that had long gone unchecked, corrected certain chronic ailments that had persisted for years, and with thunderous force (雷霆万钧之力) demonstrated that before Party discipline, national law, and military regulations, there is no "iron certificate of immunity" (丹书铁券) and no "iron-capped prince" (铁帽子王). Comprehensive strictness is by no means a temporary measure, but a rigid requirement that is normalized and sustained for the long term. We must resolutely break through the psychology of watching and waiting and taking chances, clearly recognize that the keynote of strictness will only continue to be reinforced and will not weaken or reverse, that the scale of discipline enforcement will only become harder as time goes on, and that the level of management and control will only become stricter at higher levels. We must always strictly observe the red lines of discipline and rules, eliminate the speculative psychology of testing the bottom line, gauging the wind's direction, and waiting for flexibility, proactively adapt to the normalized state of strictness, and consciously temper Party spirit and forge conduct in an environment of strict management and strict governance.

III

Only strictness can correct the cardinal principles and discipline; only strictness can maintain military prestige; only strictness can produce combat effectiveness. Political rectification and training is achieved through rectification and training—we must apply force across multiple dimensions and govern systematically, establishing rules with strict standards, strengthening execution with strict measures, and gathering collective effort with a strict atmosphere, continuously running the requirements of strictness throughout the entire process of governing the Party and the military.

Establish the benchmark of strictness through demonstration and leadership. As the saying goes, "what those above do, those below emulate." We must keep a close watch on leading cadres, persist in those at higher levels setting the example for those below, with standards becoming stricter and management and restraint becoming tighter the higher the level, urging senior cadres to strictly observe political discipline and adhere to disciplinary rules, and to take the lead in investigating and correcting problems, take the lead in rectification and correction, and take the lead in purifying conduct. Each level must demonstrate for the level below and lead the level below in action, using the strict standards and hard conduct of the "critical few" to drive the "overwhelming majority," forming a sound pattern in which those above set the example and those below follow, with strictness applied uniformly. We must dare to turn the blade inward and carry out self-revolution, consciously placing ourselves, our responsibilities, and our work under scrutiny, proactively accepting supervision by the organization, the masses, and institutions, and establishing a benchmark and setting an example through the good image of being upright and strict in oneself.

Strengthen the consciousness of strictness through rigid constraints. "Wood straightened by the ink-line becomes true; metal sharpened on the whetstone becomes keen." At present, as political rectification and training continues to deepen, we must both emphasize the rigidity of disciplinary constraints and cultivate the resilience of disciplinary consciousness, transforming the requirements of "strictness" from external constraints into internal initiative. We must tighten the fence of Party regulations and Party discipline, imprint Party discipline on the hearts of all Party members, especially leading cadres, confine power within the institutional cage, and continuously weave the "sky-net" of supervision tighter, allowing power to operate in the sunlight. We must strengthen the rigid enforcement of law and discipline, resolutely prevent regulations and institutions from becoming "scarecrows" and "paper tigers," bring the sharp sword of inspection (巡视利剑) into play, and allow officers and soldiers to clearly understand the requirements of strictness and hold the rules of strictness in awe from the depths of their thinking. We must persist in the unity of strict management and generous care, both severely investigating and punishing violations of discipline and law, and encouraging the broad ranks of officers and soldiers to take on responsibilities and accomplish things, guiding officers and soldiers to internalize discipline in their hearts and externalize it in their conduct, continuously strengthening disciplinary consciousness and solidifying the ideological line of defense.

Strengthen the atmosphere of strictness through normalization and long-term effectiveness. The significance of strictness lies in perseverance; what is most feared is starting well but ending poorly, and alternating between intensity and laxity (一曝十寒). Breaking through toxic influences and entrenched abuses is a battle of concentrated assault and a protracted battle; sustained effort and lasting results are essential. We must grasp it frequently and see normalization, integrating the keynote orientation of strictness into daily work and into the Party's ideological building, organizational building, anti-corruption and clean government building, and institutional building, always without changing the channel, reducing the intensity, or lowering the standards. We must grasp it deeply and see concrete measures, persisting from easy to difficult and from small to large, starting from the details, grasping specific problems, combining the rectification of conduct, the enforcement of discipline, and the fight against corruption and grasping them together, driving the Party's self-revolution to interlock link by link and advance tier by tier. We must grasp it persistently and see long-term effectiveness, holding firm to the keynote of strictness without letting go, continuously deepening discipline education, warning education, and conduct education, persisting with constancy and achieving lasting results, maintaining the seriousness and authority of discipline and rules, ensuring that rules are followed and violations are investigated, achieving strictness at all times, in all places, and in all matters, and ensuring that the orientation of strictness and the posture of strictness are maintained consistently to the end.

(Authors: Wang Qiang, Peng Chunlin)