Beijing: In a major purge of the Chinese military, nine senior generals of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), including senior officials of the country’s Rocket Force, have been dismissed from Parliament, official media reported here on Saturday.
Those dismissed from the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s Parliament, include five past or current top commanders of the PLA Rocket Force, which handles the missiles division and a key component of the country’s nuclear arsenal, besides a former Air Force commander, state-run Xinhua news agency said.
The report carried the announcement of the Standing Committee of the NPC but did not attribute any reason for their disqualification.
These generals are part of a substantial number of members of the Chinese military who formed part of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and are appointed to the NPC.
Their dismissals come days after the NPC appointed former naval commander General Dong Jun as the new Defence Minister, two months after the summary dismissal of General Li Shangfu without any explanation.
A new anti-corruption drive in China has led to the downfall of several past and present senior commanders in the Rocket Force, Hong Kong based South China Morning Post quoted official sources as saying.
The military’s anti-corruption body has been investigating the force’s current commander Li Yuchao, as well as Zhang Zhenzhong and Liu Guangbin, his past and present deputies.
This is not the first-time top generals of the PLA were dismissed for corruption as a number of them were summarily removed for graft and abuse of power after Xi came to power in 2012.
Over a million officials are said to have been punished in Xi’s anti-corruption campaign according to the official media accounts. The intensity of the campaign also attracted criticism that Xi made effective use of it to silence his critics and rivals within the party.
Agencies

KR Desk