Two Former Chinese Defense Ministers Sentenced to Death with Suspensions

JAKARTA - Two former Chinese defense ministers, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, were sentenced to death with a two-year suspension of sentence for corruption charges on Thursday.

Their sentences were handed down separately by Chinese military courts, Xinhua reported (8/5).

Both Wei and Li are also former members of the Central Military Commission and former members of the state council.

According to the court's ruling, Wei was found guilty of the crime of accepting bribes, and Li was found guilty of the crime of accepting and offering bribes.

The court also ruled that the two's political rights were revoked for life, and all their personal property would be confiscated.

The court ruling stated that there would be no further reduction of sentence or parole, after their sentences were changed to life imprisonment in accordance with the law after the end of the two-year suspension of sentence.

Quoted from CNN, Wei (72) served as defense minister from 2018 to 2023. While Li (68) replaced Wei and held the position for less than eight months in 2023. Both men were placed under investigation by the military anti-corruption agency in 2023.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is known to have taken the cleaning of his armed forces to the highest level, the latest targeting the highest-ranking general with the dismissal of Zhang Youxia in January, who was higher in rank than Wei and Li and once oversaw the military's day-to-day operations.

President Xi's shake-up has had a wide-reaching impact on China's 2 million-strong People's Liberation Army (PLA) - with more than 100 officers potentially sacked since 2022.

Thirty-six generals and lieutenant generals have been officially dismissed since 2022, while another 65 officers are listed as missing or potentially dismissed, according to a report published in February by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Taking into account positions that have been dismissed more than once, 52 percent of the PLA's highest leadership positions have been affected, the report's findings said.

The massive purge is part of President Xi's long-running effort to cleanse the PLA, as he continues to tighten his grip on power and push for massive military modernisation.

However, this "unprecedented" scope of "cleansing" raises questions about the military's readiness to conduct complex operations, the report's authors wrote.

Following the fall of Zhang and his lieutenant in January, an editorial published by the official PLA Daily newspaper accused the two former military leaders of undermining President Xi's supreme authority while reinforcing the message of zero tolerance for corruption.

Their investigation will "eliminate bad influences" within the PLA and "help the people's armed forces undergo thorough reform, inject strong momentum into building a strong military," he said.