China sentences 2 ex-defense ministers to suspended death for corruption
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Two former Chinese defense ministers have been sentenced to death with a two-year suspended sentence for corruption, one of the harshest sentences handed down to senior military officials in recent years.
Reuters Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu were given suspended death sentences by a Chinese military court on May 7 following their corruption convictions, state media reported.
It was stated that the decision highlighted the depth of President Xi Jinping’s long-running anti-corruption campaign within the armed forces.
Wei was found guilty of accepting bribes, according to court documents, while Li was found guilty of both accepting and offering bribes, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
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Wei Fenghe served as China’s defense minister from 2018 to 2023 (Adriano Machado / Reuters)
Both men were stripped of their political rights for life and ordered to forfeit all their personal property.
Under Chinese law, a death sentence with a two-year suspension is usually commuted to life imprisonment if the person commits no further crimes during the suspension period.
In this case, the sentences will be reduced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or other commutation after the expiration of the suspended period.
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Wei’s successor was former Defense Minister Li Shangfu (Caroline Chia / Reuters)
Wei Fenghe, 72, served as China’s defense minister from 2018 to 2023, while Li Shangfu, 68, served as his successor in the post for only a few months.
Both men were former provincial councilors and members of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), the top military leadership body that Xi chairs.
They also previously led the People’s Liberation Army’s Rocket Force, a key branch established in 2015 as part of Xi’s sweeping military reforms.
The Rocket Force oversees China’s nuclear arsenal as well as conventional missile systems, making it one of the military’s most strategically important weapons.
The penalties mark an escalation in Xi’s campaign to root out corruption in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which has targeted senior officials since he came to power in 2012.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping marches with uniformed soldiers as the Election Committee of China’s House of Representatives expresses concern that taxpayer dollars are going to CCP-linked organizations. (Li Gang/Xinhua)
The pressure intensified in 2023, when investigations reached Rocket Force and other elite units.
Both Wei and Li were expelled from the ruling Communist Party in June 2024.
The penalties were the harshest imposed on members of the Central Military Commission in recent history, Singapore-based security expert James Char told Reuters.
“The commutation of Wei and Li to life imprisonment without parole or commutation underscores the seriousness of their crimes,” he said.
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The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a London-based think tank, has previously warned that the ongoing purges could weaken China’s military command structure.
The organization said the campaign may have created disruptions that could affect the readiness of the country’s rapidly modernizing armed forces.
