 (6).png)
1 hour ago
1
ARTICLE AD BOX
Investigation into the top Chinese military officials follow the sacking or punishment of dozens of senior People's Liberation Army (PLA) officers under an intensified anti-corruption campaign carried out by Xi since he took power in 2012, as per reports
China's ruling Communist Party has decided to open an investigation into top senior military officials including highest-ranking PLA official Gen Zhang Youxia for serious violations of the party's discipline and laws, the Defence Ministry said in Beijing on Saturday.
Zhang is a member of the elite Politburo of the Communist Party and vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, the overall high command of the Chinese military headed by President Xi Jinping. Liu is chief of staff of the CMC Joint Staff Department, according to the ministry.
"After deliberation by the CPC Central Committee, it was decided to initiate an investigation into Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli,” the Chinese Ministry of Defence said in a brief press release, reported news wire PTI.
Xi Jinping's ‘anti-corruption campaign'
Dozens of senior People's Liberation Army (PLA) officers have been sacked or punished under an intensified anti-corruption campaign carried out by Xi since he took power in 2012.
In an internal speech in October last year, Xi emphasised that corruption was “the greatest threat” facing the party and said the cases were another reminder that the fight remained “grim and complex”.
President Xi Jinping – aged 72-years-old – currently in his unprecedented third five-year term as President, initiated the anti-graft campaign against ‘tigers and flies” – big and small officials when he took over power in 2012.
This included two former defence ministers and dozens of senior PLA officers.
Earlier, He Weidong, second-ranked military official of the CMC, was expelled from the party and the armed forces in October last year.
Last month, the Chinese parliament expelled threee officials:
– Wang Renhua, head of the CMC's Political and Legal Affairs Committee;
— Zhang Hongbing, political commissar of the People’s Armed Police (PAP);
– and Wang Peng, director of the CMC’s training department
Xi is the only Chinese leader after the ruling Communist Party founder Mao Zedong to remain in power for more than two terms.
Previously, state media reports said that over a million officials have been punished under the anti-graft campaign, including dozens of high-level military officials.
Critics reportedly said that the intensity of the campaign and its continuation also helped Xi consolidate his power in the party and military.
English (US) ·