
BEIJING With a few simple exhortations, Chinese leader Xi Jinping wanted to make it clear to all that he called the shots.
"Always listen to and follow the party's orders, and march wherever the party points," the president -- who is also head of the ruling Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army -- told PLA troops on July 30. They had assembled for a massive military parade at the Zhurihe base in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Xi was presiding over the event.