(Adnkronos) – Two well-known generals and seven other high-ranking officers are under investigation for corruption. This is happening in China, where Xi Jinping’s purges continue, affecting prominent officials. He Weidong, number two of the powerful Central Military Commission and one of the 24 members of the Party-State Politburo, has been expelled from the Communist Party and the Army. His last public appearance was reported on March 11, at the time of the closing ceremony of the ‘Two Sessions’, the political event of the year in the Asian giant. The Ministry of Defense in Beijing confirmed the latest developments.
Nothing similar had ever happened, highlights the South China Morning Post. And the implications go beyond the military world. In April, the Financial Times had anticipated the news of General He’s removal.
The accusation is of “serious violations of discipline and law,” official media in the Asian giant report. Along with He’s name is Miao Hua, who was the director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission, who had been chosen by Xi himself and then dismissed in June after being “suspended” last November.
The other seven names published by the Global Times are those of He Hongjun, former number two of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission, Wang Xiubin, former deputy director of the Joint Operations Command Center of the Central Military Commission, Lin Xiangyang, former commander of the Eastern Theater Command of the Army, Qin Shutong, former political commissar of the Army, Yuan Huazhi, formerly holding the same position for the Navy, Wang Houbin, former commander of the Rocket Force, and Wang Chunning, former commander of the police force.
In June, The Guardian highlighted how Miao was the eighth member of the Commission to be sacked since 2012, when Xi came to power. And since then, the newspaper wrote, “millions” have been investigated and “hundreds of thousands” have been sanctioned in various ways.
