Top Chinese general draws on Jiang’s legacy to highlight importance of loyalty in military

China’s most senior general Zhang Shengmin has invoked the late former president Jiang Zemin’s response to the collapse of the Soviet Union and first Gulf war in an article emphasising the importance of party unity and military reform in the face of external threats.This month has seen a series of commemorative events to mark the centenary of Jiang’s birth, including a grand ceremony in Beijing on Monday, where President Xi Jinping gave a 40-minute speech highlighting his predecessor’s legacy.In the article, published by party mouthpiece People’s Daily on Tuesday, Zhang highlighted the existential threats China faced in the late 20th century and how Jiang steered the People’s Liberation Army through the turmoil that followed the fall of the Iron Curtain in Europe in 1989.The vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission argued that during this period, “hostile forces” had been promoting concepts he described as “depoliticisation”, “de-partyisation” and “nationalisation”.The Communist Party has long viewed such ideas – which would effectively remove the party’s ideological control, institutional grip and leadership from the military – as existential threats.Zhang said Jiang had treated the party’s absolute leadership as the PLA’s core foundation, launching comprehensive education campaigns across the ranks and weeding out harmful tendencies.