Abide by constitution, Xi tells military after term limit removal

A day after winning the mandate to become China's leader for life, President Xi Jinping today ordered the two-million strong military to abide by the Constitution, which has been amended to remove the term limit for him.
Xi 64, also the general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has ordered the armed forces to firmly support the Party.
Meeting the military officials today, Xi asked every member of the armed forces to uphold the Constitution, and be its loyal supporter, active follower, and firm defender, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Unlike the other countries, the Chinese military functioned under the CPC like all other organs of the country.
Yesterday, China's rubber stamp parliament the National People's Congress (NPC) overwhelmingly voted for a constructional amendment removing the two-term limit for president and vice president.
The amendment would virtually make Xi a leader for life.

In his meeting with the military officials Xi said efforts to build the system of rule of law in Chinese military should be strengthened.
He said party committees and governments at all levels should do more to support the cause of defence and military advancement, while the armed forces should render their service to economic and social development.

He stressed practical efforts to further deepen military-civilian integration to provide impetus and support for realizing the Chinese dream and the goal to build a strong military.
"Implementing the strategy of military-civilian integration is a prerequisite for building integrated national strategies and strategic capabilities and for realizing the Party's goal of building a strong military in the new era," Xi said.
He called for efforts to promote military development featuring higher quality, efficiency, and scientific and technological levels.
Highlighting coordinated sci-tech innovation in key areas between the military and civilian sectors, Xi asked related parties to promote integrated reasoning and implementation on key sci-tech projects and race to occupy the strategic high ground in terms of sci-tech innovation.

China has achieved a revolutionary restructuring of the military organization and services amid deepened reform on national defense and the armed forces since the 18th CPC National Congress in late 2012, Xi said.
Xi said efforts should be made to speed up the establishment of a modern military policy system.