China has abruptly ousted nine military figures from its national parliament without explanation, as a purge of personnel in the upper echelons of the country’s defence apparatus casts its net wider.
The country’s top legislative body revoked the lawmakers’ membership during a meeting on Friday, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Their ouster followed a series of recent removals that are raising questions about how such turmoil will affect the smooth operations of China’s military.
Five of those dismissed came from the secretive Rocket Force, including former commander Li Yuchao who was earlier reported to be the subject of a corruption investigation.
At least two came from the Equipment Development Department, which earlier this year opened a corruption investigation into hardware purchases going back to 2017. The timeline of that inquiry overlapped with the term of former defence minister Li Shangfu as head of the procurement department.
Ding Laihang, a former commander of the Air Force, was also ousted on Friday, while the ninth person was from the navy. Their removal marked the first time that those branches of the military had been implicated by the recent personnel moves.
No reasons were given for the removal of the men. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has not published any information about a disciplinary investigation.
The removals are a sign that President Xi Jinping’s nearly decade-long drive to clean up the PLA is still incomplete. Back in 2014, China started launching investigations into some of its top current and retired generals, including two who had sat on the body that runs the PLA, the Central Military Commission.
This year’s unexplained purges suggest that the corruption probe is once again ramping up. Beijing ousted Li as China’s top military diplomat without explanation in October, months after replacing two top leaders managing the country’s nuclear arsenal. A top political advisory body removed three defence company executives this week.
The legislative meeing on Friday also installed former navy chief Dong Jun as China’s new defence minister, potentially paving the way for a resumption of high-level military exchanges with the United States.
The purge of 12 delegates from the legislature and political advisory body in the space of three days suggests “Xi’s shakeup of the military has reached its apex”, Eurasia Group analysts wrote in a note.
“Investigations are likely continuing at lower levels, as well as in other departments,” they added.