Two of China’s highest-ranking military officers, along with seven other senior officials, have been expelled from the ruling Communist Party and the military on suspicion of serious misconduct linked to corruption, according to the country’s Defence Ministry.
General He Weidong, China’s second-highest-ranking general, and Navy Admiral Miao Hua, the Chinese military’s former top political officer, are the latest senior military officials targeted in an ongoing campaign against corruption within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
General He’s removal marks the first time since the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution that a sitting commander in the Central Military Commission has been dismissed. He had not been seen in public since March, and Chinese authorities had not previously disclosed the investigation into his activities.
In the announcement on Friday, General He, Admiral Miao, and the seven other senior military officials were accused of “seriously violating Party discipline” and are suspected of “serious duty-related crimes involving an extremely large amount of money.”
Defence Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang stated that the alleged offences were “of a grave nature, with extremely detrimental consequences” and praised the purge as a “significant achievement in the Party and military’s anticorruption campaign.”
At 68 years old, General He’s expulsion carries implications beyond the military. He was also a member of the 24-member Politburo — the Communist Party’s second-highest echelon of power. As one of two vice-chairmen of the Central Military Commission, He was the third-most powerful commander in the PLA and was considered a close associate of President Xi Jinping, who serves as the army’s commander-in-chief.
Admiral Miao was previously removed from the commission in June after being investigated for “serious violations of discipline.”
The announcement of these expulsions comes just days before the Communist Party’s Central Committee — an elite body of over 200 senior officials — is set to hold its Fourth Plenum in Beijing. More personnel decisions, including the expulsion and replacement of Central Committee members, are expected to be formalized at the meeting beginning Monday.
Among the other military officials named alongside He and Miao are He Hongjun, a former senior official at the PLA Political Work Department; Wang Xiubin of the Central Military Commission’s Joint Operations Command Centre; former Eastern Theatre Command commander Lin Xiangyang; as well as two former political commissars of the PLA Army and Navy.
Observers have noted that many of these officials had been absent from public view for several months prior to the announcement. Former People’s Armed Police commander Wang Chunning, also named in the statement, was removed from the national legislature last month along with three other PLA generals.
Ja Ian Chong, associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, commented on the ongoing leadership changes, saying this “type of shake-up” in the Chinese military has become more routine than in the past.
“In that sense, it seems to be part of the progression of Xi Jinping’s rule,” Chong told Al Jazeera. “It can also be read as a further consolidation of power by Xi Jinping and, in that sense, it would suggest that the party is becoming more centralised and control over the party’s mechanisms is becoming stronger than ever.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/18/china-expels-top-military-commanders-in-latest-anticorruption-purge?traffic_source=rss
