Western ideology, market economy to blame for military corruption, says PLA official

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PLA confirms graft investigations into 14 officials – the second wave of officers facing a corruption investigation this year. Photo: EPA

Published: 4:22pm, 3 Mar 2015

A Chinese military official, in a scathing commentary, has blamed “Western ideology and the market economy” for ensnaring officials and corrupting their values amid a ramped-up anti-graft drive in the nation’s military.

The opinion article penned by commentator and military cadre Peng Guangqian was published today in the , a newspaper affiliated with the Communist Party’s mouthpiece , which is widely known for its nationalist tones.

“In the face of the tide of market economy and Western ideology’s delusions, some of our military officials have failed to stand the test,” said Peng, a civilian military cadre of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who holds the rank equivalent to major general.

“[These influences] distorted their concept of moral evaluation and value orientation,” wrote Peng, a former official at the Academy of Military Sciences and now a deputy secretary-general of China National Security Forum.

The errant officials “turned their power into means for personal gains, resulting in the commercialisation and privatisation of power, and become the erosion of [Chinese] military”, he wrote.

Peng Guangqian, who is a civilian cadre in PLA, holds a rank equivalent to major general.

The article was published a day after the PLA announced an investigation into 14 senior officials – the second wave of officers facing a corruption investigation this year.