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Phoebe Zhang

China has removed six senior PLA officers from the country’s top legislative body, a sign that President Xi Jinping’s military anti-corruption campaign is not slowing down.
According to a late-night notice issued by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee on Friday, 13 members of the legislature had been removed and one had resigned.
Away from the military, those removed included a former top financial regulator and the former Xinjiang Communist Party chief.
There had already been indications that some of the dismissed People’s Liberation Army commanders were under investigation.
General Xu Xueqiang, from the Central Military Commission’s Equipment Development Department, missed a major party meeting in October.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Wang Kangping, from the Eastern Theatre Command, did attend the meeting but was passed over for promotion to full membership of the party’s Central Committee.
Another one of those dismissed, Lieutenant General Yin Hongxing, the political commissar of the Tibet Military Command, was missing when Xi carried out a surprise inspection in the western region last August.
The other three commanders removed on Friday were General Li Fengbiao, the political commissar of the Western Theatre Command; General Guo Puxiao, the political commissar of the air force; and Lieutenant General Zhang Minghua, from the cyberspace force.
The military anti-corruption drive has already brought down dozens of senior commanders, including members of the Politburo.
Some have been placed under investigation for corruption while others have disappeared from public view without explanation.
Of the seven members of the Central Military Commission named at the party’s national congress in 2022, only two remain – Xi and the PLA’s anti-corruption chief, Zhang Shengmin.
Xi has stressed on multiple occasions that the anti-corruption fight in the military will not stop.


“The armed forces wield the gun. There must never be room in the military for those half-hearted towards the party, nor any sanctuary for the corrupt,” he told the annual meeting of the legislature and China’s top political advisory body in March.
The other legislators who were removed included Ma Xingrui, a former member of the Politburo and party boss of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and his protege Guo Yonghang, the former Guangzhou party secretary.
Ma abruptly stepped down as party secretary of the far western region in July last year, with state news agency Xinhua stating he would be “assigned to another post”. In April he was placed under investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China’s anti-corruption watchdog.
The commission placed Guo under investigation the previous month.
Li Yunze, the former director of the National Financial Regulatory Administration, has also been removed from the legislature.
His profile was abruptly scrubbed from the regulator’s website in April, and his replacement was appointed the following month.
Additional reporting by Alcott Wei


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The PLA commanders were among the 13 legislators who were removed. Photo: Reuters

Bian Zhigang was appointed deputy head at the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence in February 2024. Photo: VCG via Getty Images

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Apart from the senior commanders, the former Xinjiang party chief and a senior financial regulator were also stripped of their status


Apart from the senior commanders, the former Xinjiang party chief and a senior financial regulator were also stripped of their status.


China removes 6 generals from legislature as military anti-corruption drive continues

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Apart from the senior commanders, the former Xinjiang party chief and a senior financial regulator were also stripped of their status

Apart from the senior commanders, the former Xinjiang party chief and a senior financial regulator were also stripped of their status