Zhang Wannian, vice-chairman ofChina's Central Military Commission (CMC), said January 15 that the military needs to follow Jiang Zemin's speech on fighting corruption and keeping clean.

The military should follow the principle of building the Party in a strict way and retaining its original nature, Zhang said, at a meeting of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) on discipline inspection.

This is the guarantee of the Party's absolute leadership over the PLA, stressed Zhang, who is also member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee.

Only through anti-corruption efforts can the military increase its cohesiveness and fighting capabilities, Zhang pointed out.

Zhang also noted that the military should step up its educationon ideology and strengthen its confidence in Marxism, communism, and the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

He said that leading PLA officers should be the main target of anti-corruption efforts, and urged them to improve their internal self-monitoring mechanism and accept supervision. (Xinhua)