In the spring of 1978, China stood at a precarious crossroads, trapped between the lingering dogmatism of the Cultural Revolution and the urgent need for modernization. While history often remembers the period as a purely civilian political shift, the ideological battle was won in the pages of the military’s flagship newspaper. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Daily became the decisive 'firepower support' that allowed Deng Xiaoping to dismantle the 'Two Whatevers'—the policy of unswerving adherence to Mao Zedong’s every edict.
Following the publication of the seminal essay 'Practice is the Sole Criterion for Testing Truth' in May 1978, the nation’s leadership was deeply divided. While reformers embraced the call for pragmatism, hardliners within the Party apparatus resisted what they saw as a betrayal of Maoist orthodoxy. It was during this stalemate that the military leadership, spearheaded by figures like Luo Ruiqing, recognized that the path to reform required a definitive ideological breakthrough supported by the armed forces.
On June 2, 1978, Deng Xiaoping delivered a crucial speech at the All-Army Political Work Conference, emphasizing that 'seeking truth from facts' was the essence of Marxism. This was not merely an academic statement but a strategic signal to the military establishment. Following the speech, Luo Ruiqing personally supervised the drafting of a massive, 15,000-word rebuttal to the conservatives, titled 'A Most Basic Principle of Marxism,' which was published by the PLA Daily on June 24.
This military endorsement provided the political cover necessary for the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee later that year. By framing pragmatism as a core Marxist virtue rather than a deviation, the PLA Daily helped shift the institutional loyalty of the army toward the reformist camp. This transition from rigid dogma to reality-based policy remains the foundational moment for China’s subsequent four decades of economic ascent.