Beijing, Oct 17: China’s second-ranked general was placed under investigation for corruption, while nine senior military officers were punished for violation of discipline and work-related crimes in the latest crackdown, the defence ministry said on Friday in a rare public disclosure of action against top brass of the military.
He Weidong, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and a member of the 24-man Politburo, was expelled from the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and the army, military spokesman Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang told media here.
Gen He, who was not seen since August, is the first serving member of the present Politburo, the Communist Party’s top decision-making body, to face such an investigation, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
Also, nine high-ranking officials were investigated and punished, Zhang said.
“Upon investigation, it has been determined that these nine individuals seriously violated party discipline and allegedly committed grave duty-related crimes,” he said.
“The amounts involved are particularly huge, the nature of the offences extremely severe, and the impact is exceptionally negative,” Zhang said.
The CMC is headed by President Xi Jinping, who holds the powerful post of the General Secretary of the CPC.
The Chinese military, unlike the armed forces of other countries, works under the command of the CPC, not the government, and Xi, who is in his unprecedented third term in power, unlike his predecessors, is the only civilian dominated by the top brass of the army, navy, air force and other armed forces.
In the last 12 years in power, Xi carried out a massive crackdown on corruption and indiscipline in which over a million officials and dozens of top brass of the military were punished.
The latest crackdown on the military and public disclosure of the action comes ahead of the key CPC conclave called the plenary session of the party, scheduled to be held from Oct 20-23.
The meeting, in which 370 senior party leaders from all over the country will take part, will discuss the new five-year plan, challenges posed by US President Donald Trump’s tariff war, his attempts to seize control of TikTok and ensuing strains on the Chinese economy.
Critics say the persistent campaign against corruption, regarded as shock and awe, especially in the military, in which three defence ministers were also punished, was also aimed at strengthening Xi’s leadership in the party and the military.
The probe against He Weidong, who held top ranks both in the military and party, sent shock waves in the country.
In addition to He, the other top military officials under investigation included Miao Hua, a former member of the CMC in charge of the military’s political, ideology and personnel work; He Hongjun, Miao’s deputy and former executive; and Wang Xiubin, a former executive deputy director of the CMC Joint Operations Command Centre.
Lin Xiangyang, former commander of the Eastern Theatre Command; Qin Shutong, former political commissar of the army; Yuan Huazhi, former political commissar of the navy; Wang Houbin, former commander of the Rocket Force; and Wang Chunning, former commander of the People’s Armed Police Force, were also being investigated.
He Weidong is the third CMC member to be removed since the existing line-up took office in 2022.
“The serious investigation and punishment of He Weidong, Miao Hua, He Hongjun, and others once again demonstrates the firm determination of the Party’s Central Committee and the Central Military Commission to carry the fight against corruption through to the end. It highlights a clear stance that there is no place for corrupt officials to hide within the military,” Zhang said.
Zhang said the cases were “a significant achievement” in the party and the military’s anti-corruption drive, and would make the military “purer, more consolidated, and endowed with stronger cohesion and combat effectiveness”, the Post reported.
At the 20th Party Congress in 2022, seven people were selected to sit on the CMC, but only four of those appointees remain, a situation not seen in decades, the Post report said.
In addition to Xi, only vice-chairman Zhang Youxia and two members – Liu Zhenli, head of the Joint Staff Department, and Zhang Shengmin, who leads the military’s discipline inspection commission – are still on the CMC. (PTI)
