President Xi Jinping has vowed to undertake reforms to make the Chinese military stronger and combat-ready. (Photo : REUTERS)
Several military-run newspapers have published their last editions as part of the ongoing reform of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the Global Times reported.
The report said that the newspapers are by seven regional commands based in Shenyang, Beijing, Jinan, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Lanzhou.
The closure of the newspapers is part of the revamp plan which President Xi Jinping, who is also the chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), announced in November in which he said that the seven regional commands would be regrouped into so-called battle zone commands directly under the CMC.
The report said the move intends to enhance the efficiency of the command system and ensure the absolute leadership of the Communist Party of China over the armed forces.
Although details of the reform were not disclosed, reports said that the closure of the newspapers run by the regional commands indicates the official end of the commands.
According to the report, a WeChat account run by Guangming Daily's military channel shared an announcement on the website of the Shenyang Military Area Command's newspaper Qianjin Bao (March Daily), which said that its last edition would come out on Jan. 15.
"As the military command system reform goes deeper, the Shenyang Military Area Command . . . is going to wrap up its historic missions and became history," the statement said. "Qianjin Bao, as a regional command Party committee organ, will also end its mission," it said.
Lu Yongyan, a writer and a graduate from the PLA Academy of Art, also posted a story for the last edition of Qianjin Bao, headlined: "All tears as I wave farewell to Qianjin Bao."
The report said that People's Frontline, the Party organ of the area command of Nanjing, in Jiangsu Province, also ran its last issue on Friday.
On Jan. 7, the PLA Daily's Chengdu Military Area Command bureau published a story on its WeChat account, acknowledging all regional command newspapers.
"For a long time, each military regional command has had a Party organ newspaper. These newspapers have done a great job in promoting the decisions made by regional command Party committees as well as publicizing the highlights of the regional commands," it read. The article also discussed the history of each of the newspapers.
The Southern Weekend reported that the newspapers were division-level units and each of its newsrooms had about 40 to 50 people. The editors-in-chief are mostly at the regimental or vice-divisional rank.
The paper said that many of the newspapers were established around the time that the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, or even earlier.
Insiders were quoted by the Southern Weekend as saying that an adjustment plan may be released in February, and a bigger adjustment of the regional military newspapers will be announced in May or June.
Other sources also disclosed that the military regional commands will be transferred to the newly established land forces headquarters as the PLA is expected to set up a special "News and Cultural Center" for military news reports.
The Southern Weekend added that the CPC assured to continue to make use of the media to consolidate its military, as President Xi had emphasized on Dec. 25 that the newspaper belongs to the Party and needs to provide support to build a strong army.
