The Liberation Army Daily did not mention outlandish rumors of a foiled coup in Beijing that spread on the Internet in past weeks, after the abrupt ousting of Bo, an ambitious contender for a spot in the new central leadership to be unveiled at a party congress later this year.
A commentary in the newspaper, however, left no doubt the party leadership wants to inoculate People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops against rumors about coups or political divisions that could erode the authority of President Hu Jintao, who is also head of the party and chairman of the Central Military Commission which commands the PLA.
The paper admonished soldiers to "resolutely resist the incursion of all kinds of erroneous ideas, not be disturbed by noise, not be affected by rumors, and not be drawn by undercurrents, and ensure that at all times and under all circumstances the military absolutely obeys the command of the Party central leadership, the Central Military Commission and Chairman Hu."
Funny enough, the government also shut down a "left-wing" web site. It is run by Maoists and claimed that the fall of Bo Xilai, a populist "party boss" of Chongqing was engineered by America. Apparently, Bo's vice mayor fled to an American consulate at one point in Bo's downfall.
For a country that aspires to a global role, the lack of transparency in what is happening in China is rather disturbing, and the idea that we know they would simply defend the global system we built is sheer hope based on nothing.
