PLA Daily 2006-03-24

　　Following the release of the important notion by General Secretary Hu Jintao on fostering the socialist concept of honor and disgrace, the Party committees and leaders of all levels in the army have been paying great attention to it and a vigorous upsurge in learning and implementing it is rapidly unfolding. Recently, the General Political Department of the PLA issued a notice calling on the whole army and the Armed Police Force to earnestly carry out General Secretary Hu Jintao's important instruction and promote the study and education of the socialist concept of honor and disgrace. This is an important and immediate strategic task for the present ideological and political construction of the whole army.

　　It is of unusual importance and significance to the army to make great efforts to promote the socialist concept of honor and disgrace. The concept of honor and disgrace is the core of the soldier's concept of values. Upholding honor has always been soldiers' perpetual value pursuance. The soldiers' bounden duty is to defend the motherland with blood and life and on them rests the safety of the country and nation. For them, test of life and death might come at any time, which embodies the highest level of loyalty and righteousness and brings out most conspicuously the concept of honor and disgrace. To serve the people whole-heartedly is the sole purpose of our army who regards the striving for a strong and prosperous nation and for the happiness of the people as its sacred duty. Its consistent approach of having the greatest esteem for strict observation of disciplines, self-sacrifice, selflessness, putting the interest of others above their own and other lofty ethics epitomizes the true colors of the army. Fostering the socialist concept of honor and disgrace is the embodiment of the nature, tenet and the true qualities of the people's army, and likewise the inevitable demands of carrying out the army's historical mission in the new century and the new stage. We must also be aware that a sizable population of advanced young people amassed in the army and these young officers and men are at the crucial time when their world outlook, their outlook on life, and concept of values are taking shape. Therefore, to help them acquire a correct concept of honor and disgrace and make a clear distinction between right and wrong, between beauty and ugliness, and between good and evil is a matter of utmost importance to their healthy growth. We must stand at the height of implementing the scientific outlook on development, take the fostering of the socialist concept of honor and disgrace as a major event in the long-term construction and development of the army, pay close attention to it, do a good job and ensure a successful result.