Free to Read: The Military Brass Ensnared in China’s Anti-Corruption Campaign
A total of 13 full generals, 18 lieutenant generals, and more than 50 major generals have fallen from grace in recent years
More than 80 generals have been ensnared in China’s anti-corruption campaign since it kicked off in the wake of the 18th National Party Congress held in October 2012, Caixin calculations show.
A total of 13 full generals, 18 lieutenant generals, and more than 50 major generals have fallen from grace in graft probes in the past dozen years, a Caixin compilation found. Notable officials include Li Shangfu, who was sacked from his position as defense minister in 2023, and Wei Fenghe, Li’s predecessor who was stripped of his rank as general in June.
Besides Li, 13 other generals of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have been removed from the current-term National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s top legislature, which was last elected in March 2023.
This week, it was announced that You Haitao, former deputy commander of the PLA Ground Force, and Li Pengcheng, navy commander of the PLA Southern Theater Command, had been expelled from their roles due to suspected “serious violations of discipline and law.”
President Xi Jinping, who is also the chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), has called for stricter oversight within the military on multiple occasions this year.
During a visit to a Rocket Force brigade in October, Xi stressed the need to root out corruption and misconduct among rank-and-file soldiers. He later called on the PLA to be “absolutely loyal, absolutely pure, and absolutely reliable” during a Dec. 4 visit to the Information Support Force.
During a meeting of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) Central Committee’s Politburo presided over by Xi earlier this month, the body’s members said the CPC should “maintain a high-pressure posture” against corruption, according to a report from the official Xinhua News Agency.
They also announced that the CPC’s top graft buster is set to hold a plenary session from Jan. 6 to Jan. 8 next year, the report said.