Chinese President Xi Jinping has told the People's Liberation Army (PLA) that any other source of income aside from their salary is forbidden.
The announcement came in light of the government's crackdown on corruption among senior military officers.
An editorial from the PLA Daily noted that Xi made the statement while in a meeting with members of the military, reported the Global Times. The Chinese president told officers that any form of income outside their salaries is prohibited. Such earnings are considered unlawful and would be cause for investigation.
According to the editorial, "the fight against corruption begun in 2012 is not selective investigation of a few corrupt officials, but rather a campaign to uphold the rule of law and to eliminate the root cause of corruption."
For years, Xi's campaign has already caught 100,000 officials from different levels in the government. This time, the focus has turned to the military, particularly the high-ranking officials. Central Military Commission Vice-Chairman General Xu Quilang confirmed this new development in the government's fight against corruption in an interview last week.
According to Xi, corruption in the military weakens its combat readiness, which has a big impact on the survival of the Communist Party. The crackdown was implemented so that a "new norm" in the armed forces could take place, in which the officers are not interested in taking money anymore.
Just recently, the Chinese military has made public the names of 16 generals who are under investigation for graft and corruption, which includes the deputy head of nuclear forces. Deputy Head of PLA Logistics Department Liu Zheng was also named among those to be probed by the government.
The move was unprecedented as it was the first time the PLA has released the names of those being investigated. Some took it as a sign that the depth of corruption in the government's armed forces is so entrenched that Xi has made it known to get the support of the people.