The Communist Party of China expelled two former defense ministers, including Li Shangfu, who disappeared from public view along with other senior officials last year, on suspicion of corruption.
Li was fired as defense minister in October, two months after disappearing from public view, after just seven months in the position. No reasons were given for his sudden dismissal, which temporarily destabilized efforts to re-establish U.S.-China defense dialogue.
Chinese state media reported on Thursday that Li and former defence minister Wei Fenghe had been expelled from the Communist Party for “serious violations of party discipline and the law”. The charges against the two include accepting gifts and money and promoting inappropriate benefits to others.
The allegations are the result of a months-long investigation by the Central Military Commission.
State media reported that the cases of Li and Wei would be transferred to the military’s prosecution department for criminal prosecution.
Wei served as defense minister from 2018 until just before Li took over. He previously headed the military’s secretive Rocket Force, which controls China’s nuclear arsenal. Wei has also largely disappeared from public events.
A series of dramatic reshuffles in China’s military leadership last year saw two senior officers in the rocket force replaced by those from other services, signalling an attempt to cut nepotism within the force, analysts said.
In December, three senior aerospace and defense industry executives were removed from China’s top Communist Party advisory body.
Former foreign minister Qin Gang, who has not been seen in public for a year, was also sacked without cause or explanation after a short stint in the post last year.
Chinese President and military chief Xi Jinping has made fighting corruption a pillar of his leadership since coming to power in 2012. But a series of purges over the past year have raised doubts about the effectiveness of the campaign, with some of the sacked officials, including Li, Wei and Qin, appointed with Xi’s approval.
People expelled from China’s Communist Party leadership may spend the rest of their lives in political and social exile and face harsher criminal penalties. Last month a court sentenced Bai Tianhui, the former general manager of China Huarong International Holdings Bank, to death for accepting more than 1.1 billion yuan (£110 million) in bribes.
The military purge is believed to be linked to an investigation into corruption in military procurement announced last year. Ri was head of the equipment procurement department from 2017 to 2022.
The expulsion of Li and Wei will be formally confirmed at the long-delayed Third Plenary Session of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee next month. On Thursday it was announced that a meeting of the party’s top leaders will be held from July 15 to 18.
