China on Friday removed two senior military officers from its supreme military command body, the state Central Military Commission, following investigations over suspected serious violations of discipline and law.
The move is the latest development in President Xi Jinping ’s sweeping anti-corruption crackdown, which has targeted senior officials across the military, Communist Party, government and state-owned enterprises since he came to power in 2012. The military has been one of the main targets of a broader corruption crackdown ordered by Xi in 2012. The removal of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli leaves just two active members on the formerly seven-member commission, including President Xi Jinping himself, Reuters reported, citing Xinhua . Beijing has neither given a reason for his removal nor announced any investigation against him, the report added.
Last month, Xi urged senior leaders of the ruling Communist Party to deepen the fight against corruption in the military. The years-long campaign has seen scores of senior officials and top generals investigated, removed and purged. China has parallel Communist Party and state CMC structures, but they function as a single institution. Friday’s announcement by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress concerns Zhang and Liu’s positions in the state CMC. Zhao was stripped of his membership of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and removed from two other posts.
