Beijing: Accusing the US of trying to impose "cultural colonialism" by unleashing its soft power to undermine China`s political system, a top Chinese General today sought to counter western "cultural infiltration".
"The West led by the US has turned to soft power to undermine the Chinese political system," Chongqing Garrison Commander of the People`s Liberation Army (PLA) Zhu Heping wrote in an article in the Guangming Daily.
"Western cultural infiltration techniques are very clever in their deception and hidden nature. This `cultural colonialism` is like `slowly boiling a frog`: the young generation can easily lose its will to resist without knowing," he said referring to the Chinese proverb in which a frog will not be able to escape if placed in water as it boils.
Zhu, according to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, suggested China should work on expanding its own soft power abroad "to fight on the cultural front".
Zhu condemned "Western hostile forces" for "stoking a depoliticisation of the armed forces", calling it a "vain attempt to change the nature and purpose of our military, and posing a serious threat to our ideological core".
The 2.3 million strong PLA has a unique status as it directly functioned under the leadership of the ruling Communist Party and not under the state as in rest of the world.
President Xi Jinping, who took over as the new leader of the Party and head of the military, has been asserting in his speeches that the military should continue to function under the leadership of the party shunning the debate to bring under the control of the state.
The Post said Zhou`s comments may have been directed more at domestic attempts to rein in the military under Xi`s leadership, rather than foreign "cultural aggression".
It said under Hu Jintao`s presidency, which ended in March, relations between the government and the military soured. Last year, a frustrated General even reportedly "lashed out in drunken rage" during a dinner with Hu, it said.
PTI
