China has expelled two top military generals, including the highest-ranking People's Liberation Army (PLA) official, from the Communist Party and the military, an official announcement showed on Monday.
The generals – former vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission Zhang Youxia (75) and former chief of staff of CMC's Joint Staff Department Liu Zhenli (61) – were removed citing alleged disloyalty, corruption and other serious disciplinary breaches, Reuters news agency reported.
The decision was made and formally approved at a Politburo meeting chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, state media reported.
Also Read | US, China officials meet in New York before Trump-Xi Summit; talk trade, AI and more
What are the charges against the two military generals?
The probes into charges against Zhang and Liu were announced in January and both were removed from the state Central Military Commission in late August, according to the Reuters report. Zhang was formally detained by military corruption investigators in the same month.
The Chinese leadership accused the former military leaders of being disloyal to the party, forsaking the party's principles, failing to enforce strict party discipline or to supervise staff and family members.
{{/usCountry}}The Chinese leadership accused the former military leaders of being disloyal to the party, forsaking the party's principles, failing to enforce strict party discipline or to supervise staff and family members.
{{/usCountry}}Zhang and Liu “seriously violated political discipline and political rules, formed cliques and factions, and were disloyal and dishonest to the party”, state-run Xinhua news agency reported citing official documents.
It said that the pair had “crossed red lines and basic limits”, adding that their “political and economic wrongdoings were intertwined, and corrupt self-enrichment coexisted with dereliction of duty and abuse of office.”
“The sums involved were exceptionally large; the nature (of their conduct) was extremely serious and the impact extremely egregious,” the report stated.
Also Read | ‘Now this is Xi’s world’: China’s trade engine roars on as Jinping heads to Trump summit
About Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli
Both were members of the Central Military Commission - the supreme command body. Zhang, second-in-command under Xi, has long been seen as the Chinese President's closest military ally, Reuters reported.
Zhang was the first-ranking vice chairman of the powerful seven-member CMC, which is the overall high command of the Chinese military headed by President Xi Jinping, PTI news agency reported. His position in the CMC made him the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the Chinese military.
Both Zhang and Liu were decorated war heroes and the only two members of the CMC with combat experience. They had taken part in the PLA campaigns against Vietnam in the late 1970s, according to PTI.
Xi's corruption and discipline crackdown
Since coming to power in 2012, Xi has unleashed one of the most sweeping corruption and discipline crackdowns in Chinese modern history, Reuters reported. Under this, millions in China's bureaucracy have been investigated to different degrees.
Owing to this, cores of senior party, government and military officials have been purged from the bureaucracy. The military has been one of the main targets of the crackdown in recent years. Following the explusions, only two active figures remain on the formerly seven-member CMC, including Xi himself, who serves as chair.
(With inputs from Reuters)