Three high-ranking Chinese military officials expelled for corruption

Beijing, Dec 28 (PTI) The Chinese parliament has expelled three high-ranking military officials in the latest crackdown against corruption.

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Saturday expelled Wang Renhua, head of the Central Military Commission’s (CMC) 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.

All three remain full members of the Central Committee, the ruling Communist Party of China's (CPC) top decision-making body, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post said on Sunday.

The announcement confirms speculation about the fate of the generals.

The men have been missing from key events in recent months, including a celebration in late July for the anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the party’s fourth plenum in October, the Post reported.

The National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee also expelled former vice chairman of the CMC He Weidong, who was expelled from the CPC and dismissed from the service in October this year.

The CMC, the overall high command of the Chinese military, is headed by President Xi Jinping.

The Standing Committee also revoked the membership of He Hongjun, a former senior official at the PLA’s political work department. He was expelled from the party in October on charges of corruption.

Wang Renhua, 63, who was expelled from the Parliament, was promoted to the post of admiral by Xi last year and put in charge of the military’s courts, procuratorates and prisons.

He previously served as director of the political unit at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert, and as deputy head of the PLA Ground Forces political work department.

In 2017, he became chief anti-corruption official for the PLA Navy’s East Sea Fleet.

Zhang, 59, was promoted as a full general in 2022 and appointed as the political commissar of the PAP. Before that, he was the political commissar of the PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command from 2019.

Wang Peng, 61, was promoted to lieutenant general in December 2021 and appointed head of the CMC’s training and administration department.

He graduated from Nanjing University with a degree in economics in 1985. He was promoted to deputy chief of staff of the Eastern Theatre Command in 2016 and became the vice-president and director of education at the National Defence University in 2021.

Also the absence of two top air force officials of the PLA, Chang Dingqiu and Guo Puxiao, at a high-profile event attended by Xi on December 24 has fuelled speculation about their status amid ongoing anti-corruption purges at the top of China’s military.

Chang is an Air Force commander and Guo a political commissar.

Dozens of senior PLA officers have been sacked or punished under an intensified anti-corruption campaign carried out by Xi since he took over power in 2012. PTI KJV NPK NPK