China sentences former Defence ministers to death with reprieve in major graft crackdown
Beijing: In a historic escalation of President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, a Chinese military court has handed suspended death sentences to two former defence ministers.
Wei Fenghe, 72, and Li Shangfu, 68, received the harshest penalties issued to high-ranking military figures since Xi assumed power in 2012. According to the state news agency Xinhua, these sentences will be "commuted to life imprisonment" following a two-year reprieve.
The two officials, who held office between 2018 and 2023, were prominent members of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the elite body headed by Xi that commands the nation's armed forces. The court found Wei guilty of accepting bribes, while Li was convicted of both giving and receiving bribes. In addition to the prison terms, both men have been stripped of their political rights and personal assets for life.
Adam Ni, editor of the China Neican newsletter, characterised the ruling as "pretty extraordinary”. He told AFP that “a death sentence with a two-year reprieve is actually the strongest punishment China gives to its high level leaders nowadays”, adding that it serves as "a loud message from Xi”.
A continuing purge
The sentencing of Wei and Li is part of a broader "epidemic" of corruption investigations within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). This year alone, the dragnet has expanded to include:
- Zhang Youxia: Vice chairman of the CMC and currently the highest-ranking figure under investigation.
- Liu Zhenli: Chief of staff of the CMC’s joint staff department.
While the government maintains these actions are necessary to ensure military integrity, critics argue the purge allows Xi to systematically remove political challengers. Ni noted that the severity of these sentences acts as a "deterrence" to ensure "military leaders know what awaits them if they continue to engage in serious corruption".
Both Wei and Li had previously been expelled from the Communist Party, a move that effectively signalled the end of their political lives before the court's final verdict.
AFP