China's Communist Party expels former defence ministers Li Shangfu, Wei Fenghe for corruption

BEIJING: China's Communist Party on Thursday (Jun 27) expelled former defence minister Li Shangfu and his predecessor Wei Fenghe for "serious violations of discipline", a euphemism for corruption, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Li was suspected of receiving "huge sums of money" in bribes as well as bribing others.

An investigation found he "did not fulfil political responsibilities" and "sought personnel benefits for himself and others", the report said, citing the Communist Party's Central Committee which ordered the investigation.

"As a senior leading cadre of the party and the army, Li Shangfu betrayed his original mission ... betrayed the trust of the Party Central Committee and Central Military Commission ... and caused great damage to the party cause and national defence," read the report. 

Reuters exclusively reported last year that Li was under investigation for suspected corruption in military procurement. He was mysteriously ousted as defence minister without explanation last October, just seven months after taking the job. 

This is the first time China has explicitly confirmed that Li was under investigation, as well as details of the nature of his crimes.

China's military has undergone a sweeping anti-corruption purge since last year, with 11 People's Liberation Army (PLA) generals and a handful of aerospace defence industry executives removed from the national legislative body to date.

Wei, Li's predecessor, had disappeared from public view since he was replaced last March during a planned Cabinet reshuffle.

He was defence minister from 2018 to 2023 and head of the strategic PLA Rocket Force from 2015 to 2017.

President Xi Jinping, also the military's commander-in-chief, appointed a new head and political commissar of the Rocket Force last July, in a major shake-up of the unit that oversees China's conventional and nuclear missiles.

Wei's indirect reappearance in May this year, in the form of his name on a funeral wreath for a senior official, suggested that the veteran was politically safe, the South China Morning Post said last month. 

His tribute, visible alongside those from other former state councillors, hinted that he may have escaped the purge. 

However, Xinhua reported that an investigation launched into Wei last September found that he had accepted "a huge amount of money and valuables" in bribes and "helped others gain improper benefits in personnel arrangements".

Xinhua added his actions were "extremely serious in nature, with a highly detrimental impact and tremendous harm".

Li and Wei were also found to have other unspecified violations, the reports said without elaborating.

The decisions to strip both of their party membership were approved on Thursday by the seven-member Politburo, the Communist Party's apex of power. The Politburo also transferred both their cases to military prosecutors.

The Politburo ruled Li had "betrayed his original mission and lost his party spirit and principles", according to CCTV.

He "seriously polluted the political environment and industrial ethos in the field of military equipment, and caused great damage to the party's cause, national defence and the construction of the armed forces", CCTV said.

The decision will be confirmed during the party's Third Plenum to be held Jul 15 to Jul 18, when removals from the Central Committee will be formally announced. Ousted former foreign minister Qin Gang still remains a member of the Central Committee.

Qin was removed from his post after just seven months, amid speculation he had an extramarital affair that potentially compromised national security, making him the shortest-serving foreign minister in the country's modern history. 

Xi last week said the PLA faces "deep-seated" political problems and vowed there must be "no hiding place" for corrupt officers.

Li was also stripped of his membership of the national legislative body, Xinhua added, after being removed from the Central Military Commission, China's top military body, earlier this year. Wei was also removed from the legislative body.