The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has commanded grassroot military officers and political instructors to switch posts. The action was aimed to push forward military reform and increase combat capacity, the Global Times reported.
The swapping of political and military personnel is expected to help the grassroots officers to gain professional military knowledge while enhancing their capacity to handle political and ideological work, said a circular released by the PLA General Political Department.
Retired PLA colonel Yue Gang pointed out that the exchanges of post are restricted between two offices within the same unit, instead of crossing military area commands or branches of the armed services.
"The [exchange] program will also encourage officers in charge of military and political work to supervise each other . . . and create a corruption-free leadership," Luo Yuan, a PLA major general, pointed out.
Luo explained that frequent exchanges are likely to prevent the formation of cliques and inflexible work styles. He reminded that there still should be a focus on cultivating both kinds of capabilities.
"We should make the best use of [both]," the official said.
President Xi Jinping endorsed the circular. He stressed that control over the military should be absolute in Communist Party of China.
The action is a response to Xi's drive to cultivate improved military competency and political awareness among military officers at the grassroots level, according to the PLA Daily.
The commander of the Beijing Military Region, Lieutenant General Zhang Shibo, already exchanged posts with Song Puxuan, the president of the PLA National Defense University.
Thirty officials in seven military regions recently exchanged their posts with others.