Internal Security Political Work

Why Were There "Beeping" Sounds During Telephone Spot-Checks? Resolutely Guard Against Spending Mental Energy on "Inspection-Passing Tricks"

电话抽问为何会有“滴滴”声？力戒在“迎检技巧”上花心思

PLA Daily (解放军报) 27 May 2026

Summary

Personnel at a company under the PAP Hunan General Corps' Huaihua Detachment were caught using the unit's duty information system to intercept telephone spot-check questions from Operations and Training Section staff, then relaying scripted answers by phone to sentries at guard posts in real time — a scheme uncovered when Staff Officer Xiao noticed a sentry repeating questions back and heard alert tones on the line. The detachment addressed it at a 议战议训会 (combat and training deliberation meeting) and subsequently banned unauthorized use of the duty information system, shifted spot-check criteria from rote recitation to situational response, and mandated peer-learning discussions on duty responsibilities. The episode documents a specific category of inspection-gaming in PAP garrison units: cadres and senior personnel manufacturing compliance rather than reporting readiness gaps, which the detachment's own leadership acknowledged risks normalizing a shortcut culture among junior soldiers.

Translation

Why Were There "Beeping" Sounds During Telephone Spot-Checks

■ Xiang Zhengxu, Liu Sihong

"What are the duty tasks assigned to the post you are responsible for?" "Report — your question is: what are the duty tasks assigned to my post, correct?" "Yes." "Yes, my duty tasks are…"

Some time ago, Staff Officer Xiao of the Operations and Training Section of the Huaihua Detachment, PAP Hunan General Corps, was conducting telephone spot-checks on sentries at grassroots guard posts when he noticed an anomaly: Private Xiao Li of a certain company, before answering each question, would repeat the question back for confirmation, and from the other end of the line came intermittent "beeping" sounds.

The more Staff Officer Xiao thought about it, the more something felt wrong. He pulled up the surveillance footage and examined it carefully. He found that whenever Xiao Li was receiving a spot-check, the duty personnel in that company's operations duty room would suddenly become busy — rapidly typing on a keyboard while, in the gaps between keystrokes, placing one phone call after another, each lasting only a few seconds before being hurriedly ended. Correspondingly, soldiers at the company's other guard posts were seen one after another picking up their phones.

By piecing together these scattered fragments, the truth was not difficult to reconstruct: the duty personnel, upon discovering that Xiao Li was receiving a telephone spot-check, immediately called soldiers at the other posts to "tip them off."

A careful investigation revealed the full picture. The company's privates had only recently begun participating in duty tasks, and some cadres and senior personnel were worried that they might not be sufficiently familiar with the company's situation and relevant regulations, making them prone to "slipping up" during higher-level inspections. So they devised a method: the moment a higher-level inspection was detected, they would first use the duty information system to listen in on the conversation and identify the spot-check questions, then work out "reference answers" and relay them by phone to each post. The "beeping" sounds were precisely the alert tones the system emitted when duty personnel were sending Xiao Li the "answers."

After learning what had happened, Staff Officer Xiao concluded that this kind of behavior must be resolutely guarded against — spending mental energy on "inspection-passing tricks" not only affects the quality and effectiveness of post duty work and creates safety hazards, but more importantly breeds an unhealthy atmosphere. He reported the situation truthfully to his superiors.

"The purpose of inspections is to identify problems in a timely manner and eliminate safety hazards. This kind of 'cheating' behavior reflects a mentality among some officers and soldiers of taking shortcuts and going through the motions to get through inspections. If allowed to continue, it will inevitably set a bad example for younger comrades." At a combat and training deliberation meeting (议战议训会), the detachment leadership pointed out the seriousness and harmfulness of this practice, then organized everyone to jointly study how to help grassroots officers and soldiers change their thinking, correct their misconceptions, and take the right approach to inspections. The leadership also raised the requirement that the inspection mechanism must be optimized and improved, discipline strictly enforced, and recurrence of such situations prevented.

The detachment subsequently issued a notice strictly prohibiting duty personnel from using the duty information system without authorization to relay spot-check information to guard posts. At the same time, each unit was required to carry out discussions centered on the theme of "everyone shares duty problems, everyone shares duty experience," so as to help younger comrades quickly familiarize themselves with their post responsibilities and strengthen their duty capabilities. In addition, the detachment worked to optimize inspection methods, shifting the focus of spot-checks from "memorizing and reciting answers" to "handling situations," allowing grassroots officers and soldiers to flexibly provide responses based on specific circumstances when answering.

A couple of days ago, Staff Officer Xiao again checked the guard posts via surveillance and conducted random spot-checks. On the screen, duty personnel were carrying out their responsibilities in an orderly manner, sentries were composed and calm, handling matters by the book — and the "beeping" sounds were gone.

Original Chinese

电话抽问，为何会有“滴滴”声 ■向峥旭刘思宏 “你负责的哨位执勤任务有哪些？”“报告，您的问题是：我所在哨位的执勤任务有哪些，对吗？”“是的。”“是，我的执勤任务有……”前段时间，武警湖南总队怀化支队作训股肖参谋对基层哨位执勤哨兵电话抽问时，发现一个反常现象：某中队列兵小李每次回答问题前，都要把问题复述确认一遍，电话那头还不时传来“滴滴”声。肖参谋越想越不对劲。他调出监控录像仔细查看，发现每当小李接受抽问时，该中队作战勤务值班室值班人员就会突然忙起来——一边飞快在键盘上打字，一边在打字间隙拨打一个又一个电话，每个电话接几秒就匆忙挂断。相应地，该中队其他哨位战士先后有接电话动作。通过一个个散碎片段，不难拼凑出真相——值班人员发现小李正在接受电话抽问，便立即打电话给其他哨位战士“报信”。仔细调查得知，原来，该中队的列兵近期刚开始参与执勤任务，部分干部骨干担心他们对中队情况和相关规定不够了解，容易在上级检查中“出岔子”，便想了个法子：一旦发现上级检查，先用执勤信息系统听取对话内容和抽考题目，再理出“参考答案”电话告知各个哨位。“滴滴”声正是值班人员给小李发“答案”时，系统发出的提示音。了解了事情经过后，肖参谋认为这种现象必须力戒——在“迎检技巧”上花心思，不仅会影响哨位工作质效，产生安全隐患，更会催生不良风气。他将情况如实上报。 “检查的目的在于及时发现问题，消除安全隐患。此类‘作弊’行为反映出部分官兵存在投机取巧、应付迎检的心理。长此下去，必然会为年轻同志树立不良导向。”议战议训会上，该支队领导点出这种做法的严重性、危害性，随后组织大家共同研究如何帮助基层官兵转变思想、走出误区，正确看待迎检。他还提出，必须优化完善检查机制，严明纪律，避免此类情况再次发生。随后，该支队下发通知，严禁值班人员擅自利用执勤信息系统向哨位传递抽问信息；另一方面，要求各单位围绕“执勤问题大家说，执勤经验大家享”展开讨论，帮助年轻同志尽快熟悉岗位职责，强化执勤能力。此外，他们着力优化检查方法，将抽考重心由“背记答案”转向“情况处置”，基层官兵在回答时可根据具体情况灵活给出应对措施。前两天，肖参谋再次通过监控检查哨位，并进行随机抽问。屏幕里，值班人员有序履行职责，哨兵沉着冷静、处置规范，再也听不见“滴滴”声了。