China expels defense ministers Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe from Communist Party as corruption purge deepens

CNN
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China expelled its former defense minister Li Shangfu and his predecessor from the ruling Communist Party on Thursday over corruption allegations, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Sweeping disinfection Within the highest ranks of the army.

it was mine Removal In October last year with no explanation afterwards She disappeared The commander of US ground forces in Iraq, Ibrahim Abu Al-Ezz, disappeared from sight for two months, amid a series of high-level changes that shook the largest army in the world.

Lee’s mysterious disappearance and dramatic ouster after just months on the job has fueled his Intense speculationcomes after Sudden dismissal to two top generals of the People’s Liberation Army’s Rocket Force, the elite unit that oversees China’s nuclear and ballistic missiles, also without explanation.

Thursday’s announcement is the first official confirmation from Chinese authorities that graft allegations are behind his dramatic disappearance.

In a sign of the scale of the high-level purges, Li’s predecessor, Wei Fenghe, was expelled from the Communist Party on Thursday over corruption allegations, according to CCTV.

Both Li and Wei were former members of the Central Military Commission – a powerful body headed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping that ultimately commands the armed forces.

Li was placed under the military’s internal investigation for “serious violations of party discipline and the law” on August 31 last year, according to CCTV, two days after he last appeared in public at a security forum in Beijing.

Investigations by the Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China Central Committee found that Li seriously violated political and organizational discipline, resisted investigation, sought “personal benefits” for himself and others, and received “huge sums of money” in bribes as well as bribing others.

“Li Shangfu, as a senior leader of the party and military, betrayed his original mission and lost the principles of the party spirit,” the China Central Television report said, adding that his actions “betrayed the trust and responsibility placed in him” by the top leadership of the party and military.

China Central Television added that his actions “severely stained the political and industrial environment of the military equipment sector, and caused great damage to the Party’s cause, the development of national defense and the army, and the image of the senior leadership.”

“The nature of his misconduct is extremely serious, its impact is extremely harmful, and the consequences are particularly severe.”

Wei, Li’s predecessor as defense minister from 2018 to 2023, was also charged with serious violations of political and regulatory controls, resisting investigation, taking bribes, as well as “breaking faith and losing loyalty,” according to CCTV.

CCTV said that the cases of Li and Wei have been referred to the military prosecution for trial, adding that the two generals have been stripped of their military ranks.

The accusations in China Central Television reports point to corruption in Chinese military equipment procurement and development, likely focusing on the missile force – which has been a key component of Xi’s efforts to “modernize” the People’s Liberation Army and turn it into a “world-class” fighting force.

Before becoming defense minister, Li headed the PLA’s Equipment Development Department for five years, while Wei was the first commander of the Rocket Force when it was revamped in late 2015.

Since last summer, more than a dozen high-ranking military officers and aviation executives in the military-industrial complex have been stripped of their public roles.

Xi has made rooting out corruption and disloyalty a hallmark of his rule since taking power in 2012, and the purges suggest the crackdown is far from over within the military.

This story has been updated with additional information.