From "Post-Hoc Announcement" to "Full-Process Transparency": How This Brigade Made "Sensitive Matters" No Longer Sensitive

From "Post-Hoc Announcement" to "Full-Process Transparency"

■ PLA Daily Special Correspondent Liu Fan

In the study room of a certain company under a certain brigade of the 82nd Group Army, political instructor Qu Feipeng was reporting to all officers and soldiers of the company: "On behalf of the Party branch, I am reporting to everyone on Party member development during the first quarter and annual work considerations…" From the cultivation and assessment of Party membership applicants, to the criteria for determining development candidates, to the annual development priorities—he explained every item clearly and thoroughly.

Below the podium, officers and soldiers listened with focused attention. Corporal Quan Tishu noticed that the content was entirely consistent with what he had heard when he attended the Party branch committee meeting as an atmosphere supervisor (风气监督员).

After the Party member development work was launched, the company's Party branch strictly followed procedures—conducting extensive heart-to-heart conversations, reviewing training files and mission records—and after five days of in-depth study, ultimately identified three development candidates.

"In the past, when developing Party members, we often only announced the list of names, and people would wonder, 'Why him and not me?'" Staff Sergeant Second Class Meng Baojiang knows this feeling well. He had been dejected after several unsuccessful applications, had even developed misunderstandings about the Party branch, and his work enthusiasm was affected. Later, the political instructor carefully laid out the reasons and deeds that had earned the selected comrade recognition, and only then did Meng Baojiang face his own shortcomings squarely, strive to catch up, and ultimately join the Party with honor. He remarked with feeling: "If the branch had explained all this earlier, would I have had any grievances at all?"

"In the past, the decision-making stage was often seen as the business of branch committee members. After results were announced, everyone only knew 'who joined the Party' but not 'why him'—speculation and estrangement were inevitable," Qu Feipeng said candidly. To change this situation, the company began last year to draw on the brigade Party committee's successful practices, explaining the entire process of Party member development to officers and soldiers in full and without omission.

It turned out that, in order to advance Party affairs transparency (党务公开) and strengthen democratic oversight, the brigade had expanded the scope of Party committee meetings that deliberate on non-commissioned officer promotion matters to include battalion commanders, select department section chiefs, and had invited delegates to the brigade Party committee's Second Congress of Party Member Representatives and atmosphere supervisors to attend and observe the entire proceedings, ensuring that deliberations were transparent and decisions were open.

After completing the report, Qu Feipeng swept his gaze across the room: "If anyone has questions or opinions, raise them now—I will answer them on the spot. You may also report directly to the battalion Party committee or the brigade's discipline inspection and supervision section." The words had barely left his mouth when a soldier raised his hand and asked: "Instructor, for comrades who were not selected this time, will the organization point out their shortcomings? Will there be another chance?"

"Of course there will be!" Qu Feipeng answered affirmatively. "We will have individual heart-to-heart talks with each activist who was not selected, explaining both their strengths and their shortcomings. Joining the Party is a lifelong matter—as long as you keep working hard and meet the standards, the door of the Party organization will always be open." These words brought a renewed brightness to the eyes of several "unselected" soldiers, who expressed one after another their determination to redouble their efforts and strive to meet the standards as soon as possible.

From "post-hoc announcement" to "full-process transparency," openness and transparency have become the working norm and behavioral instinct of this brigade in handling sensitive matters—like a solid "bridge connecting hearts" (连心桥), tightly uniting the spirit and strength of all officers and soldiers of the brigade on the journey of strengthening and revitalizing the military.

Officers and soldiers of a certain brigade of the 82nd Group Army conducting combined ferry-bridge crossing training. Photo by Wan Duanwu.

Making "Sensitive Matters" No Longer Sensitive

—A News Investigation into a Certain Brigade of the 82nd Group Army's Party Committee Opening the Deliberation Process on Sensitive Matters to Public View

■ PLA Daily Special Correspondent Liu Fan

"As long as we are rooted in our combat positions and work diligently, we can leave our growth and advancement to the organization!" After a squad affairs meeting, Sergeant Ling Naibo of a certain brigade of the 82nd Group Army encouraged several squad members involved in the second-half-of-the-year promotion cycle to plan for the long term and keep working hard. In March of this year, in accordance with relevant regulations and following rigorous assessment, college-educated soldier Ling Naibo—whose overall quality was outstanding—"skipped" the corporal stage and was successfully promoted to sergeant. He was also recommended by his squad and platoon to serve as assistant squad leader, becoming a role model for younger comrades in the company.

There was a time when some officers and soldiers harbored doubts about the handling of sensitive matters affecting their personal interests, and private grumbling such as "sensitive matters have hidden dealings" and "it's better to be good at working relationships than good at the work itself" was common. Wang Ze, the political instructor of the company where Ling Naibo serves, told the reporter that over the past two years there have been quite a few soldiers in the brigade who have grown in the same way as Ling Naibo, and he has clearly sensed that everyone's enthusiasm for striving has grown markedly stronger. This is largely attributable to the brigade's atmosphere and environment of fairness and impartiality.

Behind this transformation lies the brigade Party committee's bold exploration: breaking with the longstanding tradition of "closed-door meetings and post-hoc announcements," and proactively opening every stage of the deliberation process on sensitive matters that directly affect officers' and soldiers' vital interests. This self-revolution—placing decision-making power in the sunlight—is riding the momentum of deepening political rectification training (政治整训) and injecting a steady stream of positive energy into the brigade's atmosphere-building efforts.

One "Imperfect" Attempt—

Aligning "What Officers and Soldiers Want to Know" with "What We Think Officers and Soldiers Want to Know"

"Can Party committee decisions really be shown to us?" When word spread in September 2024 that the Party committee meeting deliberating on non-commissioned officer promotion matters would be made public, the first reaction of some officers and soldiers in the brigade was skepticism.

"The reaction of the officers and soldiers was precisely a reflection of how deep-rooted the chronic ailments and accumulated malpractices were." This was the brigade's first attempt to open NCO promotion-related work to public view. The brigade Party committee leadership unanimously agreed that they needed to summon the resolve and make the effort to cut into the stubborn, chronic problems that had previously been difficult to discuss and unwilling to be touched, and to respond to officers' and soldiers' concerns about the fairness of the promotion process.

On that occasion, the brigade Party committee and its organs put in enormous effort—examination personnel were kept under closed management throughout, examination sites were recorded on video throughout, different units conducted cross-supervision of examinations, atmosphere supervisors oversaw the entire process, and any doubts were verified and answered on the spot. After the examinations concluded, sure enough, no one raised objections to the scores. Many officers and soldiers praised the brigade for its serious and rigorous attitude.

They say "the beginning is always the hardest," but what the brigade leadership had not anticipated was that the real difficulty in this matter lay not in "the beginning." As planned, the brigade Party committee converted the Party committee meeting deliberating on NCO promotion matters into an enlarged Party committee meeting, expanding attendance to include battalion commanders, relevant organ section chiefs, delegates to the brigade Party committee's Second Congress of Party Member Representatives (hereafter "Party delegates"), and atmosphere supervisors.

During the meeting, organ section chiefs first reported on the organization of each examination subject and the conduct of integrity oversight. When it came time for battalion commanders to take turns reporting their considerations for personnel selection and their proposed recommendations, only the standing committee members of the Party committee, the reporting battalion commander, and the Party delegates remained in the room. As a result, "noise" about this open Party committee meeting spread through the ranks: "Why did the atmosphere supervisors have to leave? Even though the Party delegates were there, it still felt like something was being concealed…"

The director of the brigade's Political Work Department said: "We were also puzzled—the procedures were this strict, so why were people still not satisfied?" Later, taking advantage of a paired-assistance visit, they went down to the grassroots to investigate. The words of one veteran soldier were thought-provoking: "The examinations were strict—the whole brigade saw that. But NCO promotion isn't just about one exam. How the Party organization weighs who works hard day-to-day and who steps up when missions come—that's what everyone is uncertain about."

The brigade Party committee leadership came to realize that their previous approach had only addressed "whether the examinations were fair," without touching "whether the decision-making was transparent." Formal rigor is not the same as officers and soldiers feeling substantive fairness. What officers and soldiers truly cared about was not just "who scored how much," but practical questions like "how does the Party organization evaluate me" and "between someone who performs well once and someone who consistently performs well, which one will the organization choose?"

The strict examination procedures also placed considerable pressure on the organs. Taking the operations and training section and the human resources section as examples, in order to ensure the examination process was flawless, several organ cadres devoted the vast majority of their energy to examination work, and the progress of other work was affected.

"Excessively inflated standards are themselves a form of formalism (形式主义); they only consume the energy of the organs and the trust of the grassroots, and cannot be sustained." As political rectification training deepened and became more substantive, the brigade leadership reflected deeply: they must proceed from actual effectiveness, truly align "what officers and soldiers want to know" with "what we think officers and soldiers want to know," and place the decision-making process in the sunlight in a lawful and compliant manner.

Following this reflection, the brigade Party committee focused on better guaranteeing officers' and soldiers' right to be informed, and studied ways to implement the open Party committee meeting format. In the end, they decided that going forward, atmosphere supervisors would no longer be asked to step aside during the stage when standing committee members deliberate and vote.

One "Fully Transparent" Deliberation—

Leadership Takes the Lead with Open Integrity; Officers and Soldiers Feel Clarity in Their Hearts

"If we open things up, we open them up completely—otherwise, how can we be worthy of the trust of our officers and soldiers…"

The then-chief of the brigade's human resources section, Qiao Haiyang, still cannot forget those words, spoken by a brigade leader standing by a window watching officers and soldiers train in the garrison area.

Moved by that leader's resolve, Qiao Haiyang also felt some apprehension: how should he report this to the other brigade leaders?

To his surprise, the brigade leaders' responses were unanimous—

"Full-process transparency? This is a good thing—it should have been done long ago!"

"When your hands are clean, you act with an open conscience."

"I fully support it. The more sensitive the matter, the more it tests Party character and conduct. To put political rectification training into practice means having the courage to make your position clear through action on sensitive matters!"

……

And so, the brigade's second enlarged Party committee meeting deliberating on NCO promotion matters was convened as scheduled. Unlike the agenda of the first meeting, when a certain battalion reported, only that battalion's commander, the Party delegates, and the atmosphere supervisors remained—but during the brigade Party committee standing committee's deliberation and voting process, that battalion's Party delegates and atmosphere supervisors did not step aside.

Recalling that meeting, grassroots Party delegate and Staff Sergeant First Class Wang Tuo of a certain battalion said repeatedly that he "hadn't expected" it—

A brigade leader randomly asked the political instructor of a certain battalion to explain the battalion Party committee's reasons for recommending a particular soldier to remain in service. The political instructor explained one by one, drawing on specific data and materials covering examination score rankings, professional talent reserves, day-to-day performance, and peer evaluations. The leaders present nodded repeatedly as they listened.

The meeting proceeded battalion by battalion—reporting battalion by battalion, voting battalion by battalion. The brigade Party committee standing committee members deliberated in front of the atmosphere supervisors and Party delegates, conducted a show-of-hands vote, and announced the tally on the spot, counted the votes on the spot, and published the results on the spot.

Leadership took the lead with open integrity; officers and soldiers felt clarity in their hearts. What the attending officers and soldiers saw and heard spread through the brigade without prompting—

"So this is how the organization thinks through these things. Who is capable and who is not—there is solid evidence for all of it."

"Before, I always thought who got promoted was just a matter of what a leader said. Now I know that every vote they cast is made with great care."

Hearing the officers' and soldiers' assessments, one standing committee member who had attended the meeting was deeply moved: "With pairs of eyes from the grassroots watching me make decisions, how could I not be careful? When deliberating on each comrade, we were especially cautious—the reasons had to be absolutely sufficient and able to withstand any questioning."

The seeds of trust quietly took root through each successive act of openness. NCO promotion—once a "sensitive matter" occasionally entangled with complex factors—has now become far less sensitive.

The chief of the brigade's human resources section, surnamed Zhang, told the reporter that as of March of this year, the brigade has convened four enlarged Party committee meetings focused on NCO promotion work. Each time, the procedures have been standardized and the transparency has been thorough. Now, atmosphere supervisors and Party delegates from each battalion can not only hear the report for their own battalion—they can also learn the situation of every officer and soldier in the entire brigade who is being considered for retention.

The company commander of a certain company in the brigade, Gao Lijian, still remembers that in early March of this year, when seeing off retiring veterans, a soldier who had not been retained said to him solemnly: "Company commander, I didn't get to stay—I truly regret it. But I leave with no grievances. Don't worry—I'll keep working hard after I go home!"

A certain atmosphere supervisor (center) of a certain brigade of the 82nd Group Army overseeing a military theory examination. Photo by Chen Libo.

From "One Matter" to "One Category of Matters"—

Letting a New, Upright Atmosphere Generate the Drive to Forge Ahead

The "butterfly effect" brought by the open and transparent Party committee meetings, like spring rains, has silently transformed the political ecology at the grassroots level and changed the spirit of every officer and soldier.

A certain company in the brigade drew on this approach during the 2025 merit and honor commendation nomination process, breaking the previous model of "deciding candidates behind closed doors and posting announcements afterward." After the nominations were completed, the branch specially convened an all-personnel military assembly, at which company political instructor Wang Ze reported in detail to officers and soldiers on the selection criteria, nomination process, democratic evaluation results, and branch ballot results for third-class merit citations, commendations, and "Four Haves" (四有) Outstanding Soldier designations, explaining the branch's decision-making rationale for each one.

"Now I know where my gaps are—I'll keep working hard next year." When the reporter met Staff Sergeant First Class Diao Xianqun, a keen and resolute determination could be seen in his eyes. Like Diao Xianqun, most of the company's officers and soldiers who had not gotten what they hoped for had their enthusiasm largely unaffected.

"Proactively opening the deliberation process on sensitive matters is meant to drive officers and soldiers of the brigade to transform their thinking and conduct." The brigade leadership unanimously agreed: placing leaders' individual deliberation opinions, policy judgments, and ballot results entirely before officers and soldiers means that every decision must be able to withstand the scrutiny of officers and soldiers and the scrutiny of history. This demands strict adherence to exercising power according to regulations, exercising power with prudence, and exercising power with integrity—and resolutely discarding selfish and impure motives while upholding Party character principles.

In the past, some officers and soldiers had a "just get by" mentality day-to-day and only scrambled at the last minute when promotion time approached. Now, everyone knows that the Party organization looks at consistent performance, not a single moment or event. "Doing well every ordinary day matters more than anything else" has become a shared understanding among officers and soldiers. Decisions made at all levels of organization have won the recognition and support of officers and soldiers, and have firmly established the clear orientation of "standing on the strength of one's quality and advancing on the basis of one's actual performance" (靠素质立身、凭实绩进步).

In September of last year, Sergeant Xie Zhonghao of a certain company was successfully promoted on the strength of his solid capabilities. Shortly after his rank was elevated, he was invited by several younger comrades about to go through the NCO promotion process to serve as a small-unit instructor for intensive training. "Everyone trusts the organization and relies on the organization—everyone wants to advance on the basis of their actual performance," Xie Zhonghao said.

Reporter's Dialogue with the Director of the Political Work Department of a Certain Brigade of the 82nd Group Army—

Public Credibility Comes from a Public-Minded Heart

■ PLA Daily Special Correspondent Liu Fan

At present, units at all levels are continuously deepening political rectification training, strictly rectifying discipline and conduct, and driving the atmosphere at the grassroots level to become ever purer and the political ecology to continuously improve. How can one directly confront sensitive issues during political rectification training and build a solid foundation of trust among officers and soldiers through openness and transparency? Around this topic, the reporter held a dialogue with the director of the Political Work Department of a certain brigade of the 82nd Group Army.

Reporter: Why did the brigade Party committee resolve to break with the convention of "closed-door meetings and post-hoc announcements"?

Director: In the past, we were concerned about officers and soldiers talking, so for sensitive matters that officers and soldiers cared about, we only announced results without opening up the process. This appeared compliant, but in reality it cut off effective oversight and bred suspicion. Those who performed outstandingly but did not get what they hoped for easily suspected that "connections" were at play; those with average performance might shift their attention toward "working the relationship network"; individual cadres who dared not uphold principles led some officers and soldiers to entertain "crooked ideas." If these problems are not resolved, they will chill the hearts of soldiers, scatter the military's spirit, and damage combat effectiveness. We must turn the knife inward in self-revolution, truly implement officers' and soldiers' right to be informed and their right to oversight—only then can we unite hearts around the organization.

Reporter: From "closed-door deliberations" to "open-door meetings," what was the greatest difficulty? How was it overcome?

Director: The greatest difficulty was the transformation of thinking within the Party committee leadership itself. A public-minded heart (公心) is the prerequisite for daring to be open. Proactively placing power under oversight is not easy to put into practice. At the time we also had concerns: Is it compliant to openly discuss deliberation opinions? Does it affect the authority of the Party committee? In response, we studied deeply the important statements of Chairman Xi and relevant regulations and institutional provisions, and came to a profound understanding: the authority of the Party committee derives from public credibility, not from "mystification"—the more open and transparent, the more trust is won; the more proactively oversight is accepted, the more support is gained. The affirmation and support of higher-level Party committees also strengthened our resolve. Drawing on the specific provisions of regulations across various functional domains, we studied and clarified what content the regulations permit to be made public during the deliberation process for various categories of sensitive matters, as well as the appropriate forms of disclosure commensurate with responsibilities and authority. Practice has proven that after the brigade Party committee opened the deliberation process on sensitive matters to public view, the cohesion of the leadership body became more consolidated, the grasp of the situation became more comprehensive and accurate, and the scientific quality of decision-making improved significantly.

Reporter: In connection with deepening political rectification training, what lessons does this initiative offer for strengthening grassroots-level building in the new era?

Director: Sunlight is the best disinfectant; openness is the strongest source of public credibility. Strengthening grassroots-level building in the new-era military requires that openness and transparency permeate the entire work process. Once the content that officers and soldiers care about, the basis for decisions, and the decision-making process are made open, formalism (形式主义) and bureaucratism (官僚主义) have nowhere to hide. Opening the decision-making process on sensitive matters can eliminate backroom operations and power-seeking from the source, ensuring that those who work hard are respected and rewarded, while those who seek shortcuts find no market and face sanction—establishing the orientation of "advancing on the basis of actual performance and standing on the strength of one's ability" (凭实绩进步、靠能力立身), cultivating a political ecology that is clean and upright, and guiding officers and soldiers to devote themselves wholeheartedly to mastering military skills and strengthening capabilities. Grassroots officers and soldiers are the main body of the force; letting them understand decisions and oversee work can strengthen their sense of ownership and激发 their sense of responsibility and mission. When every officer and soldier feels fairness and justice, the wholesome atmosphere of "everyone trusts the organization and everyone relies on the organization" will naturally take shape.