You and Li are suspected of “serious violations of laws and discipline”, an expression normally used by Chinese authorities in corruption cases
China’s highest legislative body on Thursday withdrew the membership status of two more generals, as Beijing intensifies its anti-corruption campaign in the country’s armed forces.
The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) confirmed that Lieutenant General You Haitao, former vice commander of the Chinese Army, and Lieutenant General Li Pengcheng, former naval commander of the Southern Theater Command Armed Forces, were removed from the legislative body.
According to the statement, You and Li are suspected of “serious violations of laws and discipline”, an expression normally used by Chinese authorities in corruption cases.
The fall of the two generals comes during a period of personnel changes within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), as several senior officers were accused of corruption.
Miao Hua, a member of the powerful Central Military Commission and director of its political work department, was placed under investigation, also for corruption, in November.
You, 66, became deputy commander of the army in early 2016. He previously held the position of deputy commander of the Nanjing Military Region and was promoted to lieutenant general in 2014.
Li, 61, previously served as deputy chief of staff of the PLA Navy’s North Sea Fleet, director of the Navy Equipment Research Institute and chief of staff of the East Sea Fleet.
Li was naval commander of the Southern Theater Command after his predecessor, Ju Xinchun, was also removed from the legislative body in December 2023, along with eight other generals, including several senior officers of the PLA Rocket Force, who oversees the country’s nuclear arsenal.
The recent personnel changes also include the promotion of a longtime air force officer, Chen Hui, to the rank of general, confirming him as the army’s new political commissar to oversee the units’ ideology, political education and morale. , China’s official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.
In September, it was announced that Deng Zhiping, a deputy army commander, had been removed from the NPC on suspicion of corruption. Deng, 60, was hailed as a war hero during China’s border clashes with Vietnam in the 1970s and 1980s.
Beijing also placed two of its former defense ministers, Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe, under investigation in June.
Corruption may have hampered China’s progress toward meeting military modernization goals for 2027, according to the Pentagon’s annual report on the Chinese military released this month.
The Pentagon document said that between July and December 2023, at least 15 senior Chinese military officials and defense executives were removed from their positions.
