In a move aimed at underscoring the severity of the purge in the military, China on Thursday sentenced two former Chinese defence ministers – Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu – to death with a two-year reprieve over graft charges. Both Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu were found guilty of bribery, and all of their personal assets were confiscated.
The armed forces have been facing broad corruption crackdown ordered by President Xi Jinping after coming to power in 2012.
The purges reached the elite Rocket Force, which oversees nuclear weapons as well as conventional missiles, in 2023, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Earlier this year, a top general in the People’s Liberation Army, considered close to Xi, was removed over corruption charges. Zhang Youxia, who was a Politburo member, was suspected of receiving “huge sums of money” in bribes as well as bribing others. An investigation later found he “did not fulfil political responsibilities” and “sought personnel benefits for himself and others”.
Allegations against Wei Fenghe ‘extremely serious’
A probe launched against Wei in 2023 found that he had accepted “a huge amount of money and valuables” in bribes and “helped others gain improper benefits in personnel arrangements”. Xinhua, quoting officials, reported in 2024 that his actions were “extremely serious in nature, with a highly detrimental impact and tremendous harm”.
A death sentence with reprieve in China is typically commuted to life imprisonment if the offender commits no crimes during the period of reprieve, Xinhua said. After the commutation, the accused will be imprisoned for life without the possibility of further commutation or parole.
In February, President Xi, in a rare public reference to the military crackdown, had said that the army had “undergone revolutionary tempering in the fight against corruption”.
China’s ongoing military corruption purges are leaving serious deficiencies in its command structure and are likely to have hampered the readiness of its rapidly modernising armed forces, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said this year.