Cultivating Reliable Successors Worthy of the Heavy Responsibility of Strengthening the Military
Cultivating Reliable Successors Worthy of the Heavy Responsibility of Strengthening the Military
— Studying and Implementing the Spirit of Chairman Xi's Important Address at the Opening Ceremony of the Senior Cadre Training Course for the Entire Military
■ Cai Weibin
Editor's Note: National development depends on talent, national rejuvenation depends on talent, and advancing the cause of military strengthening likewise requires generation after generation of talented people to carry the struggle forward. Standing at a critical juncture when the "two overall situations" (两个大局) are simultaneously intertwined, mutually激荡, and converging, we must treat human resources as a precious strategic resource, better leverage the leading and supporting role of talent in the cause of military strengthening, and ensure high-quality advancement of national defense and military modernization and the seizure of initiative in military competition and future wars.
Realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics hinges on the Party, hinges on people, and ultimately on cultivating generation after generation of reliable successors. Not long ago, at the opening ceremony of the senior cadre training course for the entire military, Chairman Xi emphasized the need to "carry out ideological rectification (思想整风), deepen political consolidation training (政治整训), and strengthen the revolutionary tempering (革命性锻造) of our military's cadre corps." Chairman Xi's important address put forward new requirements for comprehensively strengthening our military's talent work in the new era, and provided the fundamental basis and action guide for genuinely ensuring that the Party and military cause has successors. On the new journey, realizing the centenary goal of army building, and accelerating the building of the People's Army into a world-class military, we must vigorously cultivate reliable successors worthy of the heavy responsibility of strengthening the military, providing powerful talent support and injecting inexhaustible development momentum into the cause of military strengthening.
I
At present, our military is at a historic juncture in the strategic transition of the new "three-step" approach to national defense and military modernization, and the entire military is carrying out ideological rectification, deepening political consolidation training, and strengthening revolutionary tempering. Cultivating reliable successors worthy of the heavy responsibility of strengthening the military concerns the banner, the road, and the direction; concerns the overall situation of military construction; and concerns the outcome of future wars. We must fully recognize the major practical significance and far-reaching historical significance embedded therein, genuinely raise our political positioning, strengthen our sense of mission and responsibility, and advance implementation.
A necessary measure for upholding the Party's absolute leadership over the military. At present, the world situation, national conditions, Party conditions, and military conditions are all undergoing complex and profound changes. The political tests our military faces are intricate and complex, and the many factors that affect the Party's absolute leadership over the military and erode the political character of the People's Army exist in reality. We must treat cultivating reliable successors worthy of the heavy responsibility of strengthening the military as the top priority for upholding the Party's absolute leadership over the military, deeply advance the building of the military through political means (政治建军), continuously deepen political consolidation training, firmly establish in the souls of the broad ranks of officers and soldiers the ideological foundation of heeding the Party and following the Party, and ensure that the barrel of the gun is always held in the hands of those who are loyal and reliable to the Party.
An inevitable requirement for advancing national defense and military modernization. When talent is strong, the cause is strong; when talent flourishes, the military flourishes. Talent is the key factor driving high-quality development of our military and is of critical importance to comprehensively building a world-class military. We must place the cultivation of reliable successors worthy of the heavy responsibility of strengthening the military within the grand chessboard of the century's transformation, closely aligned with the demands of the military's high-quality development, strengthen the building of a revolutionized and professionalized talent corps, accelerate the modernization of military personnel, and genuinely establish and build well the "keystone" of military talent, ensuring that the People's Army always produces talent in abundance and wins the development advantage in the cause of military strengthening through talent superiority.
A timely need for seizing the initiative in international military competition. In modern warfare, without talent, with insufficient talent, or with talent of insufficient quality, victory in battle is impossible. At present, a new round of scientific-technological revolution and military revolution is advancing with each passing day; the concepts, elements, and methods of achieving victory in war are all undergoing major changes, placing higher demands on cultivating and employing talent focused on preparing for and fighting wars. The contest on the future battlefield is, at bottom, a contest of talent. If the talent corps cannot keep pace, it will be difficult to cope with various risks and challenges. We must treat cultivating reliable successors worthy of the heavy responsibility of strengthening the military as a strategic project for seizing the initiative in military competition and future wars, keep a close eye on changes in science and technology, changes in warfare, and changes in adversaries, and systematically advance the cultivation of the "four categories of talent" (四类人才) — joint operations command, new-type combat forces, high-level scientific and technological innovation, and high-level strategic management — striving to build a high-quality, professionalized new-type military talent formation, and ensuring that our military's talent can master modern warfare and effectively fulfill mission tasks in the new era.
II
A nation is established through talent; a military flourishes through talent. Cultivating reliable successors worthy of the heavy responsibility of strengthening the military is a systematic project. We must accurately grasp the target requirements and key emphases, and apply sustained effort and pursue real results in purifying conviction, tempering thought, forging capability, and shaping conduct.
Forging the "firmness" of conviction. Our Party and our military are united by ideals and convictions. To join this Party and this military is to believe firmly in Marxism, to be loyal to the Party's faith, the Party's organization, and the Party's cause. History and reality both tell us that wavering in ideals and convictions is the most dangerous wavering, and a slide in ideals and convictions is the most dangerous slide. If problems arise with the "master switch" of ideals and convictions, a series of problems will follow — political degeneration, economic greed, moral depravity, and corruption in personal life. In cultivating reliable successors worthy of the heavy responsibility of strengthening the military, the foremost task is to persist in arming officers and soldiers with the Party's innovative theories, guiding them to consolidate the foundation of faith, replenish the calcium of the spirit (补足精神之钙), and steady the helm of thought, and to firm up the iron conviction of not changing one's heart, not shifting one's will, and not destroying one's integrity — so as to be clear-cut in the face of major questions of right and wrong, fearless in the face of trials of wind and waves, and steadfast in the face of all manner of temptations.
Tempering the "strength" of politics. "Strengthening the military must first mean being strong politically; being strong politically is the most fundamental strength." Our military, as an armed group executing the Party's political tasks, has always placed politics first. History and practice have profoundly confirmed that if military capability is not solid, one collapses upon fighting; if political capability is not solid, one collapses without fighting. In cultivating reliable successors worthy of the heavy responsibility of strengthening the military, we must unswervingly advance political consolidation training, continuously forge the character of loyalty and solidify political faith, guide officers and soldiers to always stand firm in their political position, hold fast to the political direction, and adhere to political principles, consciously integrating heeding the Party's command into their souls, infusing it into their bloodstream, and practicing it in their actions — so as to always heed the Party and follow the Party, and forever preserve the political character of revolutionary soldiers.
Honing the "height" of capability. Fighting wars and preparing to fight wars is the sacred duty of soldiers; military capability must be made thoroughly solid. At present, the cause of military strengthening has encountered unprecedented development opportunities, but there are still many difficult obstacles on the road ahead that must be overcome, and many real challenges that must be met. In cultivating reliable successors worthy of the heavy responsibility of strengthening the military, we must temper officers and soldiers to the standard of combat and the demands of actual warfare, guiding them to concentrate their energies on studying military affairs, studying war, and studying combat; to work hard at improving strategic literacy, joint operations literacy, command literacy, and scientific-technological literacy; and to genuinely make solid the capabilities of being a soldier who fights, training soldiers to fight, and leading soldiers to fight — so as to live up to the trust placed in them and not disgrace their mission at critical moments.
Steeling the "hardness" of conduct. Chairman Xi has pointed out: "Whether we can consistently maintain the glorious traditions and fine conduct of our Party and our military is a major question bearing on military construction." For revolutionary soldiers, fine traditions must not be abandoned — abandon them and the soul is lost; the red genes must not change — let them change and the essence is corrupted. Whether in the past, the present, or the future, the fine traditions and conduct forged by revolutionary forebears with their lives and blood are always our precious spiritual wealth for facing hardship without fear and pressing ever forward. In cultivating reliable successors worthy of the heavy responsibility of strengthening the military, we must nourish officers and soldiers with the glorious traditions and fine conduct of our Party and our military, guiding them to actively learn from, love, and speak of traditions, using fine traditions to strengthen fighting spirit, clarify discipline, and temper integrity — forever preserving the purity and glory of the People's Army and allowing a healthy atmosphere and upright spirit to flourish ever more fully.
III
Cultivating reliable successors worthy of the heavy responsibility of strengthening the military is a strategic requirement for the hard fight to reach the centenary of army building and to strive toward a first-class military, and is a practical task for deepening ideological rectification and advancing political consolidation training. We must comprehensively cultivate and shape in close alignment with the development requirements of the cause of military strengthening in the new era.
Strengthen ideological remolding and forge the lifeline of heeding the Party's command. Thought is the precursor to action. In cultivating reliable successors worthy of the heavy responsibility of strengthening the military, we must place ideological remolding in the foremost position — rectifying the source and consolidating the foundation — and from the root solidify the ideological foundation of absolute loyalty. We must strengthen theoretical arming, persistently use Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to remold the subjective world, deeply implement Xi Jinping's thought on strengthening the military, study deeply and comprehend thoroughly the worldview and methodology of the "six musts" (六个必须坚持) and the military view and methodology of the "five adherences" (五个坚持), and genuinely use the Party's innovative theories to arm the mind and cultivate the spiritual home. We must strengthen education and cultivation, seize upon the real problems and live thoughts encountered by officers and soldiers in their growth and progress, conduct solid ideological and political education around the basic questions of the mission of military strengthening, shouldering responsibility and fulfilling duty, sacrifice and dedication, and compliance with rules and discipline — persistently promoting the upright and eliminating the deviant, and correcting the "three outlooks" (三观). We must strengthen political tempering, be adept at analyzing and resolving problems from a political perspective, consciously place work within the overall situation to think about, grasp, and advance, continuously improve political judgment, political comprehension, and political execution, and shoulder mission and responsibility with solid political capability.
Strengthen Party-spirit forging and calibrate the iron standard of self-cultivation and virtue. Party spirit is the cornerstone of Party member cadres' self-establishment, career establishment, speech establishment, and virtue establishment. In cultivating reliable successors worthy of the heavy responsibility of strengthening the military, we must, in accordance with the requirements of revolutionary tempering, find gaps, trace root causes, and strengthen cultivation from the standpoint of Party spirit. Conduct thorough ideological cleansing to rectify the heart: earnestly carry out ideological analysis, and through regular and thorough ideological cleansing, correct certain vague, distorted, or even inverted concepts, ensuring that one is upright, clean, and solid in oneself. Conduct serious inner-Party life to cultivate the self: make good use of the sharp weapon of criticism and self-criticism, uphold truth and correct errors in serious inner-Party political life, prevent problems before they arise and "detoxify and treat illness" through whispered remonstrance and face-reddening exchanges (咬耳扯袖、红脸出汗), continuously eliminate ideological impurities and correct ideological deviations, and resolve the root ideological problems of ideals and convictions, Party-spirit cultivation, and official virtue and personal character. Emphasize cultural immersion to nurture virtue: consciously draw moral nourishment from China's outstanding traditional culture, temper the original aspiration, firm up conviction, and enlighten wisdom from revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture, establish correct views on power, on political performance, and on one's cause, and in self-cultivation, self-restraint, and self-remolding, uphold great virtue (大德), observe public virtue (公德), and be strict about private virtue (私德).
Strengthen capability building and enhance the hard power to fight and win. Capability and quality are the key to fulfilling duties and achieving victory in battle. In cultivating reliable successors worthy of the heavy responsibility of strengthening the military, we must, with an eye toward winning future high-end wars and in close alignment with the practice of preparing for and fighting wars, comprehensively forge the hard-core strength that meets the requirements of military strengthening and winning battles. We must establish the thinking of a combat force, set the standard of combat effectiveness, play the role of a combatant, be prepared to fight during one's tenure and to fight at any time, and ensure that at the Party's and the people's command we can set out at any moment and achieve decisive victory on the battlefield. We must genuinely think about matters of war, genuinely deliberate on problems of war, and genuinely make preparations for war — practicing strategy, command, and adaptability — and work hard to resolve the problems of the "two large gaps" (两个差距很大), the "two insufficient capabilities" (两个能力不够), and the "five don't-knows" (五个不会), tempering the solid capability to win battles. We must dare to struggle and be adept at struggle, be bold in tempering and honing ourselves in arduous and rigorous training, in near-combat environments, and in the preparation for grave and complex military struggle — continuously deepening the dauntless heroic spirit and the valiant and tenacious combat style — so as to be able to throw oneself forward at moments of danger and difficulty and stand firm at critical junctures.
Strengthen conduct shaping and set a fine example of integrity and clean governance. Fine conduct is a distinctive characteristic and political advantage of our military. In cultivating reliable successors worthy of the heavy responsibility of strengthening the military, we must place conduct building in an important position and use solid conduct to gather the great positive energy of military strengthening. We must always treat self-cultivation and virtue building as a lifelong subject — frequently brushing away "ideological dust," often reflecting on the "harm of greed," and regularly breaking down the "thief within the heart" — consciously cultivating noble sentiments, keeping away from unhealthy tendencies, holding fast to the character of integrity, and ensuring that at no time and under no circumstances does one indulge oneself, overstep boundaries, or transgress limits. We must bear in mind that power belongs to the public and not to the private, maintain a clear understanding of the boundaries of power, always exercise power justly, cautiously, and cleanly, and ensure that the heart holds awe, speech holds restraint, and conduct holds limits. We must at all times keep taut the string of discipline and rules, maintain the vigilance of one treading on thin ice and standing at the edge of a deep abyss, take negative examples as a mirror, consciously accept strict constraints and supervision, and in holding firm the gates of politics, power, association, personal life, and family affection, set a fine example of loyalty, integrity, and responsibility.
(Author's unit: Air Force Engineering University)