Nine senior generals of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have been dismissed from China’s Parliament, including senior officers of the Rocket Force.
Official media gave this information on Saturday. According to the government news agency ‘Xinhua’, among the officials dismissed from the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s parliament, are also five top commanders of the PLA’s rocket force, who looked after the functioning of the missile division, a component of the country’s nuclear weapons.
Apart from these, the dismissed officers are former Air Force commanders. The report announced the decision of the NPC Standing Committee. However, the reason for dismissing these officers has not been given.
A large number of members of the Chinese military, part of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), have been nominated to the NPC.
These officers were dismissed after the NPC appointed former navy commander General Dong Jun as the new defense minister. The dismissal of these officers comes two months after the dismissal of General Li Shangfu without any explanation.
According to the NPC’s announcement, the officials whose membership has been terminated include Zhang Zhenzhong, Zhang Yulin, Rao Wenmin, Xu Xinchun, Ding Laihang, Lu Hong, Li Yuchao, Li Chuangguang and Zhou Yanying.
The South China Morning Post, published from Hong Kong, quoted official sources as saying that a new anti-corruption campaign in China has led to the demotion of several former and current senior commanders of the rocket force.
The military’s anti-corruption body is investigating the force’s current commander Li Yuchao, as well as his former and current deputies Zhang Zhenzhong and Liu Guangbin.
Li is the most senior general and only the third commander of the rocket force to be captured in the latest investigation. He was made the commander in 2015 during a major overhaul of the army. Lee has not appeared in public since late August and no reason was given for his removal.
“Almost all the senior generals (in the rocket force) had good reputations before their promotions,” the South China Morning Post reported, quoting official sources. “They became unethical after moving to the Beijing headquarters because they got more opportunities to be involved in defense-related enterprises.”
The dismissed rocket force officers are reportedly close to sacked Defense Minister General Li Shangfu. An official announcement made on Friday said that their membership has been terminated under the relevant provisions of the People’s China Law relating to representatives of the NPC.
This is not the first time that a top PLA general has been dismissed on corruption charges.
Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, many officials have been removed on charges of corruption and abuse of power. According to official media, according to an estimate, more than one million officials have been punished so far in Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign.
The anti-corruption campaign has also drawn sharp criticism, with allegations that Xi used the campaign to silence his critics and rivals within the party.
The majority of China’s 2,996-member NPC is made up of representatives from all PLA military organs. The NPC’s full meeting is held annually while the 175-member standing committee meets from time to time to transact legislative business. The NPC announced on Friday that the annual session of Parliament will be held on March 5.
Apart from this, the Standing Committee of the NPC on Friday appointed Dong, a close confidant of Chinese President Xi, as Defense Minister. Dong was the first commander of the Chinese Navy.
He was promoted to the rank of general in September 2021, making him among the highest-ranking officers in active service.
Before Lee, Foreign Minister Chin Kang was also removed from his post without any reason. Wang Yi was appointed foreign minister in Kang’s place.
Wang replaced Chhin earlier this year. There is no information about the future of Li and Chhin. Lee has not been seen in public since late August and no reason was given for his removal.