5-4 The Mercenary Officers

Five: Fatuous And Cruel
4: The Mercenary Officers




The military’s entrepreneur activities started in the mid of 1980s. The initial objective was to offset the military’s expenditures. Senior officials of the CCP were optimistic about the endeavor’s potential to sustain the military within the military. After Jiang Zemin became Chairman of the Military Commission, he took the advantage of his authority, and loopholes in the military enterprises, to gain full control of the military. Jiang gave many undue benefits to the army, allowing the military to wantonly indulge in trading, and fostering corruptions within its ranks. As a result, the military madly involved in smuggling, and the problem spiraled out of control.



The military was the largest player amongst all the contingents involved in smuggling. Taxes and duties were invaded by hundreds of billions yuan, and none of the money was used to offset the military’s expenditures. Most of it, instead, went into the officers’ pocket