China has stripped six senior military officers, former financial regulator Li Yunzhi, and recently investigated former Politburo member Ma Xingrui of their positions as lawmakers in China’s National People’s Congress, in the latest sign that President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign continues to target the country’s political and military establishment.According to a notice issued by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and reported by Reuters, citing the state-run Xinhua News Agency, the Legislative Council removed the officials from their posts without providing any reason for the dismissal. There was no immediate response from the Chinese Ministry of Defense to a Reuters request for comment.The move represents another escalation in Xi’s years-long anti-corruption campaign, which has led to the investigation, dismissal and purge of dozens of senior Communist Party officials and senior People’s Liberation Army commanders.Among those dismissed was General Xu Xueqiang, head of the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission, the body responsible for supervising the development, acquisition and testing of military equipment for the People’s Liberation Army. Xu has also been the commander-in-chief of China’s manned space program since 2022.General Li Fengbiao, Political Commissar of the People’s Liberation Army’s Western Theater Command, was also stripped of their position as legislator; General Guo Boxiao, Political Commissar of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force; Lieutenant General Wang Kangping of the Eastern Theater Command; Lt. Gen. Zhang Minghua of the Cyberspace Force; and Lt. Gen. Yin Hongxing of the Army.
According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), there have already been indications that several sacked leaders are under investigation.The newspaper reported that General Xu missed a key Communist Party meeting in October last year, while Lieutenant-General Wang Kangping attended the meeting but was not promoted to full membership of the Party’s Central Committee. Lieutenant General Yin Hongsheng was also absent when Xi conducted a surprise inspection of Tibet last August, raising speculation about his status.Aside from the military, China’s National People’s Congress also removed former Xinjiang Communist Party chief Ma Xingrui and former National Financial Regulatory Administration head Li Yunze from the legislature.Ma, a former member of the Communist Party’s powerful Politburo, resigned from his post as party secretary of Xinjiang in July last year, and Xinhua said at the time that he “will be appointed to another position.” However, China’s top anti-corruption watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), placed him under investigation in April this year, according to the SCMP.The SCMP also reported that Li Yunze’s profile was abruptly removed from the National Financial Regulatory Administration’s website in April before his successor was appointed the following month.The Legislative Council also dismissed Guo Yonghang, a former Communist Party secretary of Guangzhou and a close associate of Ma Xingrui. The newspaper reported that Guo was placed under investigation by CCDI in March.The latest removals come as Xi continues to tighten his grip on the military.
The anti-corruption campaign has already brought down dozens of top PLA leaders, including members of the Politburo, the SCMP reported. Of the seven members of the Central Military Commission appointed at the Communist Party Congress in 2022, only Xi Jinping and PLA Anti-Corruption Chief Zhang Shengmin remain in office.Xi has repeatedly stressed that the military will remain the main focus of the campaign.“It is the armed forces that bear arms,” Xi said during annual meetings of China’s legislature and top political advisory body in March. “There should be no place in the army for those who do not sympathize with the Party, nor any haven for the corrupt.”The latest revision highlights that Xi’s anti-corruption campaign, now more than a decade old, continues to reshape the upper echelons of China’s military and political leadership and financial regulatory system.