China’s ruling Communist Party on Thursday expelled ex-Defense Minister Li Shangfu and his predecessor over corruption charges, state media said, in the latest move in a purge that has toppled more than a dozen senior military officers and defense industry figures.
Li’s removal from the party came 10 months after he disappeared from public view, and was reported to be under investigation in connection with the procurement of military equipment. He was sacked without a replacement in October, amid a series of sudden firings and disappearances.
“Li seriously violated political and organizational discipline,” the official Xinhua news agency reported.
“He sought improper benefits in personnel arrangements for himself and others, took advantage of his posts to seek benefits for others, and accepted a huge amount of money and valuables in return,” the agency said in a report also carried by state broadcaster CCTV.
“Li's violations are extremely serious in nature, with a highly detrimental impact and tremendous harm, according to the investigation findings,” the Xinhua report added.
The official agency used almost identical language for the case of Wei Fenghe, Li’s predecessor as defense minister from 2018 to 2023.
“Wei lost his faith and loyalty,” it said.
Wei’s alleged misdeeds “severely contaminated the political environment of the military, bringing enormous damage to the Party's cause, the development of national defense and the armed forces, as well as the image of senior officials,” the agency added.
The two generals were stripped of their military ranks, and their cases have been handed to the military procuratorate for prosecution, Xinhua said.
The expulsion of Li and Wei came almost a year after Communist Party chief Xi Jinping fired two top generals of the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force, which controls the country's nuclear missiles. Xi also heads the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC).
In the dozen years since Xi Jinping came to power, his wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign has targeted party, state and PLA officials. Nine senior officers and at least four defense industry executives have been sacked.
In 2014, Xu Caihou, a former CMC vice chairman, was expelled from the party and the PLA for corruption. A month later, another vice chairman of the Commission, Guo Boxiong, was ousted from the party, and later given a life prison sentence.
"The signal sent to other PLA leaders is very obvious." said Ye Yaoyuan, a professor of international studies at the University of St. Thomas.
"For Xi Jinping, he hopes to set a more authoritative example before the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party Central Committee,” he told Radio Free Asia, referring to a key party meeting in mid-July.
“That is, ‘if something happens to the PLA leaders, I am really willing to take action, and my means of handling it are definitely not a simple transfer or other simple ways to end it.’" Ye said.
Thursday’s report, the first official confirmation that graft was the reason for the sudden and secretive removal of Li and Wei, made no mention of another mystery high-level purge: that of former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang.
Qin has been absent from public view since he met with the foreign ministers of Sri Lanka and Vietnam in Beijing on June 25, 2023. His disappearance came amid widespread and unconfirmed rumors that he was under investigation for having an affair, and possibly a child, with Phoenix TV reporter Fu Xiaotian.
Edited by Paul Eckert.