Anti-graft campaign: China's ruling Communist Party expels two military officers

Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) today said that 20 other military officers from Beijing, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Shanghai and Hebei have been punished for “disciplinary violations”, in the continued crackdown on corruption in the military. Zhang Genheng, former head of the frontier army regiment under Xinjiang’s public security bureau, and Li Wenli, former director of the military service office of the Inner Mongolia regional public security department - were removed from CPC.

They were found to have “severely violated Party discipline” and are suspected of accepting bribes, the CCDI said in a statement. Zhang and Li took advantage of their positions to help others gain promotions in the army and seek other benefits. Li was also found to have been involved in gambling, it said. Their cases have been transferred to judicial bodies.

In one case, Yin Zhishan, former deputy director of the guard bureau under the Ministry of Public Security, was removed from his post and reduced to the rank of senior Colonel from Major General, among other punishments. Top CPC officials as well as thousands of middle and low ranking bureaucrats were prosecuted and punished in the biggest anti-corruption champaign launched by President Xi Jinping after he took over power in 2013.

The biggest crackdown was also carried out in the military in which over 40 top officials including two Vice Chairmen of China’s top military body, Central Military Commission, besides a number of Generals were removed to face anti-graft investigations. Meanwhile, former head of Sichuan province’s political advisory body Li Chongxi was today sentenced to 12 years in jail for taking bribes worth about 11.1 million yuan ( USD 1.75 million), state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Li’s personal assets worth one million yuan will be confiscated, according to the verdict that was meted out by a court in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi Province.