China announced this Thursday an investigation for corruption against the last two defense ministers: Li Shangfu, missing since the end of August – when he was still head of the portfolio, and dismissed two months later by order of the president, Xi Jinping -, and Wei Fenghe, his immediate predecessor, who served as head of Defense between 2018 and 2023.
Li Shangfu, 66, has been accused of a long string of serious disciplinary breaches and corruption to varying degrees, according to a report by the disciplinary inspection and supervision body of the Central Military Commission approved this Thursday by the Politburo of the Communist Party. one of the highest organs of Chinese power. The Politburo has also decided to expel him from the Party and transfer his “alleged criminal matters” to the Military Prosecutor’s Office.
“The nature of his behavior is extremely serious, the impact is extremely bad, and the damage is particularly great,” says the news reported by the official Xinhua agency. Wei Fenghe, who also served as commander of the missile force of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA, the Chinese Armed Forces), in charge of the nuclear and conventional missile arsenal, faces similar accusations. The simultaneous announcement can be interpreted as a possible indication of the connection between both cases.
“Great damage to the cause of the Party”
The news, as reported in state media, sheds little light on a rather dark episode. Former Minister Li is accused of failing “to fulfill his political responsibility to govern comprehensively and strictly”, of resisting “the organizational review”; of “seriously violating organizational discipline,” of “illegally seeking personal benefits for oneself and others”; of using his position “to seek benefits for others” and having “accepted enormous sums of money,” and of having given money to others to “seek improper benefits,” suspected of constituting bribery. “As a senior leader of the Party and the army, Li Shangfu abandoned his original mission and lost the spirit and principles of the Party,” the Xinhua note states. He is accused of having “polluted” the field of military equipment and the atmosphere of the defense industry, a euphemism for bad practices. “He has caused great damage to the cause of the Party, to national defense and military construction, as well as to the image of senior leaders.”
No date is given for the beginning of the suspicions of his alleged malpractice, but it is indicated that the file against him was opened on August 31, 2023, two days after his last public appearance, when he had been there for just over five months. at the head of the portfolio: he was promoted to minister in the remodeling of the Chinese Executive carried out in March 2023, when Xi Jinping was named president for a third term.
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Similar cases, such as those of politicians Bo Xilai or Zhou Yongkang, ended with a life sentence that they serve in Qincheng prison. In December, China appointed Dong Jun, until then top commander of the Navy, as the new Minister of Defense.
The accusations against the former minister and former head of the missile force, Wei Fenghe, are quite similar. He is accused of illegally accepting gifts and cash, using his position to seek benefits for others, accepting gifts and cash, and accepting huge sums of money suspected of bribery. “As a senior leader of the Party and the army, Wei Fenghe lost faith and loyalty,” and, in his case, had a bad influence on the troops. His case is also “extremely serious,” says the Politburo, which has also decided to put the matter in the hands of the military prosecutor’s office.
The fall of former Minister Li Shangfu had, to date, followed an almost identical script to that of former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, appointed in December 2022 and abruptly replaced in July 2023 after a month of absence. From Qin, however, there is still no news.
China’s disciplinary and supervisory authorities have imposed some type of Communist Party disciplinary or administrative punishment on 610,000 people in 2023, according to official figures collected by the pro-government newspaper Global Times; Investigations into top Party officials broke records last year, with cases opened against 45 senior officials, according to a tally by the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post.
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