Xu Caihou, member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the CPC and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, highlighted in his recent study tour taking him to some troop units stationed in Jiangxi, Fujian and Anhui that powerful and effective ideological and political work has always been the magic weapon to beef up our army and defeat the enemies. Therefore, the entire armed forces should vigorously strengthen ideological and political building, make sure to support in real earnest the constant deepening of the preparation for military struggles with the powerful backing of ideology, organization and work style, and make great efforts to raise the combat capability under information conditions, so as to effectively fulfill the historical missions of the army in the new century and the new period.

　　During the study tour, Xu Caihou listened to the work reports presented by the troop units he visited, checked up on and inquired about the progress of arming the troops with the Party's innovative theories, the ideological and political education, the building of the ranks of competent personnel, combat readiness for military struggles, grassroots construction and more. He also inspected the armaments, positions and barracks, had informal discussions with troop unit leaders and grassroots officers and men, and went down to squads and platoons of the companies to find out and get acquainted with the working and living conditions of officers and men. Topping that, he adopted the method of handling affairs on site and studied the problems for solutions together with the officers from the related departments of the four general headquarters/departments of the PLA .

　　By Fang Xiang and Xu Yunfei

　　(May 23, PLA Daily)