China calls for armed forces political loyalty

BEIJING: China issued a set of revised regulations on the fundamental rules governing the People's Liberation Army (PLA), which stress Xi Jinping thought on strengthening the armed forces.

The regulations included rules on military discipline, training management, soldiers' weight standards, use of mobile phones and the Internet as well as the use of gun-firing salutes to pay respect to martyrs, reports Chinese media on Monday.

Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), signed orders to publish three regulations on the military's interior order, code of conduct and military formation. The three revised regulations, which underlined the absolute leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) over the people's armed forces, will take effect from May 1.

The regulation on interior order has been revised to enhance the political loyalty of the armed forces, strengthen them through reform and technology and run them in accordance with law. It also underlined a greater focus on combat. It further regulated names of military units and the duties of soldiers.