Internal Security Political Work

A Package of Local Specialties Sent Back Home — An Account of the Dazhou Detachment of the Sichuan General Corps of the People's Armed Police Force Rectifying Grassroots Conduct

一份被寄回的土特产——武警四川总队达州支队纠治基层风气的一段经历

PLA Daily (解放军报) 15 August 2026

Summary

The Dazhou Detachment of the Sichuan General Corps of the People's Armed Police Force used a squad leader's confiscated bag of hometown snacks as the trigger for a detachment-wide discipline education campaign, banning soldiers from bringing food gifts back from leave and prohibiting takeout-sharing among peers, framed around the concepts of 庸俗交往 (vulgar social dealings) and 廉洁相处 (clean interaction). The article documents a recurring institutional anxiety in PAP grassroots units: that informal gift exchange among enlisted personnel — distinct from the better-policed problem of gifts to officers — quietly erodes unit discipline and fosters reciprocity norms that shade into factionalism. The framing points to an ongoing effort to push integrity standards below the officer level and into peer relationships, though the article gives no indication of how widely the Dazhou policy has been adopted across the Sichuan General Corps.

Translation

A Package of Local Specialties Sent Back Home — An Account of the Dazhou Detachment of the Sichuan General Corps of the People's Armed Police Force Rectifying Grassroots Conduct

■ Lü Junfei, Liu Qi

The incident in which Soldier Xiao Qin of the Dazhou Detachment of the Sichuan General Corps of the People's Armed Police Force brought local specialties back for his comrades-in-arms, only to be required by his company to send them back home, sparked a reaction among officers and soldiers.

Xiao Qin is a squad leader in a certain company. Some time ago, he took leave to return to his hometown to visit family, and he kept thinking about his comrades the whole time. On the eve of his return to the unit, reflecting on how hard everyone trained day in and day out and on the warm atmosphere within the squad, he mulled over bringing back some local specialties from home for everyone to try — both as a reward for their hard work and as a way to deepen comradeship.

That day, he carefully packed a large, full bag of local specialties and set off for the unit in high spirits.

When he returned to the dormitory, his comrades had not yet come back from the training ground. Xiao Qin quietly placed the local specialties in a storage locker, planning to bring them out after the evening roll call and give his comrades a surprise.

What he did not expect was that at dusk, the discipline inspection and conduct supervision team of the detachment's discipline committee conducted a random inspection and discovered the large bag of local specialties in the locker. Upon learning of the situation, Xiao Qin hastily explained: "These local specialties are not a gift — they are for the comrades in the squad to eat."

Secretary Li of the detachment's discipline committee did not simply criticize him, but patiently and carefully explained the reasoning and the harm involved.

"Comradeship is cultivated and strengthened through fighting side by side and offering each other genuine mutual assistance — not sustained by sharing local specialties." Secretary Li, citing the relevant regulations, told Xiao Qin that this kind of "sharing" could very likely lead to vulgar social dealings (庸俗交往) and one-upmanship, becoming an unhealthy tendency (不良风气) that undermines grassroots development.

These words brought Xiao Qin to his senses. He came to recognize that what had seemed like a warm-hearted gesture was in fact a manifestation of weak discipline awareness and an unsteady bottom line on minor matters (小节底线不牢). If behavior of this kind were tolerated and indulged over the long term, it could corrupt the purity of internal relations. Xiao Qin proactively acknowledged his mistake and immediately packed up all the local specialties and sent them back home.

The matter sparked discussion among the detachment's officers and soldiers. The detachment's discipline committee seized the moment to organize a special questionnaire survey. The results showed that a considerable portion of officers and soldiers reported having witnessed or engaged in similar behavior. Some officers and soldiers frankly admitted that everyone now clearly understands that giving gifts to leading cadres violates disciplinary regulations and affects the conduct of the unit, but that a small number of officers and soldiers still hold mistaken views, feeling that sharing takeout snacks or local specialties among comrades is perfectly reasonable.

"Ordering officers and soldiers to send the local specialties back home strips away the entanglement of personal favors (人情世故) and preserves a clean and upright atmosphere (清风正气)." The detachment party committee leadership took a resolute stance: this unhealthy tendency must be stopped, and grassroots conduct must be purified. Using people and events close at hand as vivid teaching material, they carried out discipline education, interpreted the various regulations and rules, and required officers and soldiers to eliminate gift-giving based on personal ties (人情馈赠) — prohibiting the bringing of any gifts or local specialties when returning to the unit from leave, and prohibiting the sharing of takeout snacks upon returning from outings. Through case analysis, discussion forums, and other formats, they guided officers and soldiers to establish the concept of "clean interaction and sincere treatment of one another (廉洁相处、真诚相待)" and to build healthy and pure relationships among comrades and between superiors and subordinates.

During the discussions, some soldiers reasoned that while the cost of purchasing snacks and local specialties is not large, small amounts accumulate over time, and in the long run this would still place a certain degree of financial pressure on officers and soldiers. One soldier reflected that in the past, when comrades shared local specialties, he had worried that not sharing in return would make him look like someone who "doesn't know how to conduct himself." Now that concern is completely gone; relations among comrades are cleaner and more refreshing, and the line of integrity (廉洁防线) has been fortified from the smallest details.

Today, not bringing local specialties and maintaining clean interactions (廉洁相处) have become the conscious actions of officers and soldiers. One weekend, Squad Leader Li of a certain company returned to the unit from leave; his comrades welcomed him warmly, asked about his experiences during leave, and talked freely about their training achievements. The atmosphere was exceptionally harmonious.

Original Chinese

一份被寄回的土特产 ——武警四川总队达州支队纠治基层风气的一段经历 ■吕俊飞刘畦那一次，武警四川总队达州支队战士小秦给战友带了一些土特产，却被中队要求寄回的事，在官兵中引发了反响。小秦是某中队一名班长。前段时间，他休假回老家探亲，一直惦记着战友。归队前夕，想着大家平日训练辛苦，而且班里氛围融洽，他便琢磨着把家乡特产带些回去给大家尝尝鲜，既是犒劳大家，也能增进战友情谊。这天，他精心打包了满满一大袋土特产，满心欢喜踏上了归队之路。回到宿舍时，战友还在训练场未归，小秦便悄悄地把土特产放进储物柜，打算晚点名后拿出来，给战友一个惊喜。可没想到，傍晚时分，支队纪委风气督查组开展随机检查，发现了柜子里那一大袋土特产。小秦得知情况后连忙解释：“这些土特产不是送礼的，是给班里战友们吃的。” 支队纪委李书记没有一味批评，而是耐心细致地给小秦讲起了其中的道理和危害。 “战友情谊是在并肩战斗、真诚互助中培养和增强的，而不是靠分享土特产维系。”李书记结合相关规定告诉小秦，这样的“分享”，很有可能导致庸俗交往和相互攀比，成为影响基层建设的不良风气。一席话语让小秦醒悟过来。他认识到，自己看似暖心的举动，实则是纪律意识淡薄、小节底线不牢的表现。类似行为如果长期放任纵容，可能破坏纯洁的内部关系。小秦主动承认了错误，并立即将所有土特产打包寄回了老家。此事在支队官兵中引起讨论。支队纪委顺势组织了一次专题问卷调查，调查结果显示，相当一部分官兵反映曾见过或有过类似行为。有官兵坦言，大家现在都清楚认识到，给领导干部送礼是违反纪律规定、影响部队风气的行为，但个别官兵仍有认识偏差，觉得战友之间互相分享些外卖零食或土特产无可厚非。 “责令官兵寄回土特产，去掉的是人情世故，留住的是清风正气。”支队党委一班人态度坚决：必须刹住这股歪风，纯正基层风气。他们以身边人身边事为生动教材，开展纪律教育，解读各项条令规定，要求官兵杜绝人情馈赠，休假归队不得携带任何礼品、土特产，外出归来不可分享外卖零食等。通过案例剖析、座谈交流等形式，引导官兵树立“廉洁相处、真诚相待”理念，建立健康纯粹的战友及上下级关系。讨论中，有战士辨析说，购买零食、土特产的开销虽然不大，但积少成多，长此以往还是会给官兵造成一定经济压力。一名战士感言，以往有战友分享土特产，自己曾担心不分享会被视为“不懂事”，现在这样的顾虑完全没有了，战友之间更加清爽，廉洁防线就这样从细微处筑牢了。如今，不带土特产、廉洁相处成为官兵的自觉行动。一个周末，某中队李班长休假归队，战友们热情相迎，询问休假见闻，畅谈训练成果，氛围格外融洽。