China has expelled two of its highest-ranking military officials from the Communist Party and the armed forces as part of an ongoing anti-corruption campaign, the Ministry of National Defense announced on Friday.
General He Weidong, China’s second-highest-ranking military officer, and Admiral Miao Hua, the military’s former top political officer, were removed on charges of serious corruption. Their expulsion marks the most senior-level purge in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) since the anti-graft drive began in 2023.
General He’s removal is particularly significant — he is the first sitting member of the Central Military Commission (CMC) to be ousted since the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). The 68-year-old general, who also served on the Communist Party’s powerful 24-member Politburo, has not been seen in public since March, though the investigation into his activities had not been disclosed until now.
Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang said the two, along with seven other senior officers, had “seriously violated Party discipline and are suspected of major duty-related crimes involving extremely large sums of money.” He described their misconduct as “grave” and their actions as having “extremely detrimental consequences.”
Observers say the timing of the announcement, just days before the Communist Party’s Fourth Plenum in Beijing, underscores President Xi Jinping’s continued efforts to tighten control over the military and party leadership.
“Xi is cleaning house for sure,” said Wen-Ti Sung, a fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub. “The formal removal of He and Miao means Xi will be able to appoint new members to the Central Military Commission, which has been virtually half empty since March.”
Miao Hua had already been removed from the CMC in June, following an investigation for “serious violations of discipline” that began last November.
Other senior officers named in the purge include He Hongjun of the PLA Political Work Department, Wang Xiubin of the CMC’s Joint Operations Command Centre, former Eastern Theatre Commander Lin Xiangyang, and two former political commissars from the PLA Army and Navy. Former People’s Armed Police Commander Wang Chunning was also removed from the national legislature last month.
General He Weidong’s downfall is especially notable given his close ties to Xi Jinping. The two men’s careers intersected in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces in the late 1990s, when Xi served as governor and deputy party secretary. He later commanded the PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command, the unit responsible for operations near Taiwan — a region central to China’s defense strategy.
Promoted in 2022 directly to vice chairman of the CMC, bypassing the usual Central Committee route, He was regarded as a key figure in China’s military response to then–U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in August 2022. He is believed to have helped plan the large-scale live-fire exercises that followed — Beijing’s most aggressive show of force toward Taiwan in years.
The removal of He and Miao signals President Xi’s determination to consolidate power within the military and root out corruption at the highest levels, as the Chinese leadership prepares for a major reshuffle at the upcoming Party Plenum.
Source:Africa Publicity
