https://www.scmp.com/rss/524606/feed The latest news and top stories on Wei Fenghe. A retired general, he served as China's State Councillor and Minister of National Defence from 2018 to 2023, having previously commanded the PLA Rocket Force, overseeing China's nuclear arsenal. His career highlights include military diplomacy and a strong stance on national sovereignty. Recently, he was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party and stripped of his general rank following an investigation for corruption, including accepting bribes... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Liu Zhen Liu Zhen Most of China’s nuclear warheads are located at a single facility in the country’s northwest and could be vulnerable during a conflict, according to a US think tank. In a report published this month, the US Air University’s China Aerospace Studies Institute detailed the warhead management and logistical structure of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force. The report, based on open-source intelligence, said much of China’s nuclear stockpile was stored at a single, centralised facility known as... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3346374/chinas-nuclear-warhead-storage-highly-concentrated-risk-us-report-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3346374/chinas-nuclear-warhead-storage-highly-concentrated-risk-us-report-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Mar 2026 13:30:07 +0000 William Zheng William Zheng Two top PLA Air Force officers have become the latest military brass to miss a key political event, as the anti-corruption campaign in the Chinese military continues unabated. Footage broadcast by state television CCTV indicated that General Chang Dingqiu and Guo Puxiao, Air Force commander and political commissar, respectively, were not present at a ceremony on Monday to fill top-level vacancies caused by the sweeping crackdown. The event in Beijing was led by President Xi Jinping, who is also... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3337636/top-pla-air-force-duo-miss-key-military-event-led-xi-corruption-fight-rolls?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3337636/top-pla-air-force-duo-miss-key-military-event-led-xi-corruption-fight-rolls?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Dec 2025 10:00:45 +0000 Sylvie Zhuang Sylvie Zhuang China’s leader has promoted two PLA commanders who oversee the Taiwan Strait and the city of Beijing, suggesting that the dust has begun to settle following a massive purge in the military over corruption concerns. President Xi Jinping promoted Yang Zhibin, commander of the Eastern Theatre Command, to the rank of full general on Monday, according to state broadcaster CCTV. The move formally confirms Yang as head of the Eastern Theatre Command. Yang previously served as a lieutenant general in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3337383/xi-jinping-promotes-pla-commanders-overseeing-taiwan-strait-beijing-full-general?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3337383/xi-jinping-promotes-pla-commanders-overseeing-taiwan-strait-beijing-full-general?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Dec 2025 14:43:41 +0000 Sylvie Zhuang Sylvie Zhuang It has been a turbulent year for the fraught US-China relationship. In the third part of a series looking back at the events of 2025, we examine China’s growing military might and how it’s narrowing the tech gap with the US. US defence chief Pete Hegseth told a conference in Washington this month that America would maintain a “clear-eyed appreciation” of China’s “rapid, formidable and holistic” military build-up. That build-up is being watched globally, with defence experts in recent years... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3336735/why-chinas-rapid-military-build-hardly-whole-story?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3336735/why-chinas-rapid-military-build-hardly-whole-story?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Dec 2025 22:00:09 +0000 Yuanyue Dang,William Zheng Yuanyue Dang,William Zheng Even for the anti-graft era of President Xi Jinping, the wave of investigations into alleged corruption in the Chinese military over the past three years has been exceptional. Last month, nine senior People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officers were expelled from the Communist Party and the military, including He Weidong, formerly China’s second-highest-ranking military officer. They are accused of having “violated party discipline and allegedly committed serious crimes related to their duties” –... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3332692/top-pla-heads-have-rolled-chinas-hunt-corrupt-military-officials-may-be-here-stay?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3332692/top-pla-heads-have-rolled-chinas-hunt-corrupt-military-officials-may-be-here-stay?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Nov 2025 22:00:23 +0000 Yuanyue Dang Yuanyue Dang China’s military mouthpiece has launched a series on “political rectification” – linking it to the ideological purity of the People’s Liberation Army – days after several generals were expelled from the ruling Communist Party for corruption. In the first instalment on Monday, PLA Daily ran four pages of commentary and reporting urging the military to “strengthen and consolidate the consciousness of alignment and adherence”. That was a reference to the alignment between the party leadership and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3330506/chinas-military-mouthpiece-puts-focus-political-rectification-after-generals-purged?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3330506/chinas-military-mouthpiece-puts-focus-political-rectification-after-generals-purged?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Oct 2025 12:00:13 +0000 Yuanyue Dang,Alcott Wei,William Zheng Yuanyue Dang,Alcott Wei,William Zheng China has promoted Zhang Shengmin, the military’s anti-graft chief, to vice-chair of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), which is headed by President Xi Jinping. And Zhang Fengzhong, a senior general with the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, has been placed under investigation for corruption, according to a communique of the fourth plenary session of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, which concluded on Thursday. Zhang Fengzhong was an alternate member of the Central... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3330061/china-makes-anti-graft-chief-zhang-shengmin-vice-chair-central-military-commission?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3330061/china-makes-anti-graft-chief-zhang-shengmin-vice-chair-central-military-commission?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Oct 2025 09:05:15 +0000 Josephine Ma Josephine Ma China has accused the nine generals expelled from the Communist Party on Friday of seriously undermining the principle that the military should be loyal to the party, saying that they dealt a serious blow to the unity of the armed forces and the image of senior officers. In an editorial published on Saturday, military mouthpiece PLA Daily said the disgraced nine – including He Weidong, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and a member of the 24-man Politburo – had been... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3329511/expelled-chinese-generals-disloyal-and-dealt-serious-blow-army-pla-daily?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3329511/expelled-chinese-generals-disloyal-and-dealt-serious-blow-army-pla-daily?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Oct 2025 08:30:26 +0000 Alcott Wei Alcott Wei When China held its first Victory Day military parade in 2015, more than 50 generals joined troops to march down Changan Avenue in central Beijing. The generals of all stripes led dozens of formations past the Tiananmen rostrum, saluting President Xi Jinping and other leaders as the official announcer read out each commander’s name. By taking the unprecedented steps, the senior commanders were setting an example for the soldiers, a spokesman for the parade organisers said at the time. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3325750/why-were-chinas-generals-missing-action-during-victory-day-parade?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3325750/why-were-chinas-generals-missing-action-during-victory-day-parade?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Sep 2025 01:00:14 +0000 William Zheng William Zheng China’s official military newspaper has urged the force’s political officers to rebuild their image by showing more loyalty to the top leadership, honesty in their work, and integrity in how they promote soldiers. The series of commentaries in the PLA Daily follows Beijing’s new disciplinary guidelines released on Monday to “eliminate toxic influences” in the work of political officers, after a string of high-profile military crackdowns. The latest events include the removal last month of top... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3319628/chinas-pla-daily-outlines-image-redemption-checklist-political-officers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3319628/chinas-pla-daily-outlines-image-redemption-checklist-political-officers?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Jul 2025 08:00:13 +0000 Vanessa Cai Vanessa Cai China’s top military body has issued a new set of guidelines for political officers following a series of corruption cases. The regulations, released by the Central Military Commission (CMC), were designed to “strengthen political loyalty”, according to the official newspaper PLA Daily. The report stressed the importance of Communist Party officials embedded within the military “acting with fairness and integrity in personnel matters, and leading by example”. A separate commentary published by... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3319030/eliminate-toxic-influences-chinas-military-issues-new-political-guidelines-after-wave-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3319030/eliminate-toxic-influences-chinas-military-issues-new-political-guidelines-after-wave-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Jul 2025 10:25:00 +0000