China expels former Defense Minister Li Shangfu accused of violating Communist Party principles and 'discipline'

Lina Portman1 week ago

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Former Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu has been expelled from the ruling Communist Party (CCP), months after being removed from office following an abrupt leadership reshuffle.

The official Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday that Mr Li was removed from his post over allegations of corruption and bribery, for which he was under investigation.

The general was dismissed from his functions as defense minister and state councilor last October, without any explanation being provided for the dismissal.

Before that, he had disappeared from the public scene for about two months, as part of the fight against corruption led by the government of Xi Jinping.

Xinhua said the CPC leadership decided to expel Li due to his “serious violation of Party discipline and the law”, determined by China's Central Military Commission (CMC) under an investigation underway since August.

“According to the investigation results, Mr. Li seriously violated political and organizational discipline,” the news agency reported.

“He sought improper personnel advantages for himself and others, took advantage of his position to seek advantages for others and accepted a huge sum of money and valuables in exchange He is suspected of the crime of corruption.

“He was also found to have offered money to others to obtain undue advantages, which constitutes the alleged crime of offering bribes.”

He added that Li's apparent violations also went against the party's “original aspirations and principles” and hindered the growth of the country's powerful military.

Lack of clarity on alleged crimes

Such accusations have been made in the past by many military leaders during the rule of Mr. Xi, who also leads the armed forces as chairman of the CMC and has made cracking down on corruption a hallmark of his rule since his came to power more than ten years ago.

Another former defense minister, Wei Fengshe, was also expelled by the party's Politburo on Thursday for the same reasons.

Both leaders were previously members of the CMC. The commission was behind the executive order to remove them from military posts last year.

Mr. Li's “alleged criminal case” is now expected to be transferred to China's military prosecutorial bodies, which could likely sentence him to life in prison.

Mr. Li spent most of his career as a missile and procurement specialist.(AP: Vincent Thian)

Details of the corruption allegations against him remain to be clarified.

In its statement, the ministry said only that the alleged crimes were “exceptionally pernicious” and posed “enormous danger.”

Mr. Li spent most of his career as a missile and procurement specialist, and was under U.S. financial and travel sanctions when he disappeared last September.

This roughly coincided with the sudden disappearance of Qin Gang, then foreign minister, and several leading officers of the rocket corps, amid unproven allegations of misconduct.

Mr. Li was replaced in December by Admiral Dong Jun.

China has the world's largest standing army, its largest navy and a rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal, but it has not been tested in war in half a century.

It is a highly politicized and bureaucratic structure, headed by Xi Jinping, head of the party's Central Military Commission, with the defense minister playing a subsidiary role who has little contact with his counterparts in foreign countries.

ABC/AP

Lina Portman

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