He Weidong is the most prominent military figure brought down in the CCP’s decade-long campaign against alleged corruption and disloyalty.
In a dramatic move on Oct. 17, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) expelled nine high-ranking military leaders and handed them over for investigations on accusations related to corruption and abuse of power, including a top general considered to be a close ally of Party chief Xi Jinping.
He Weidong, a member of the Politburo—the CCP’s second-highest decision-making body—and a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), which exercises the CCP’s control over the armed forces, was stripped of his Party membership and taken down from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), according to a spokesperson for China’s defense ministry.
The announcement makes He the most prominent military figure brought down in the CCP’s decade-long campaign against so-called corruption.
Launched by Xi shortly after he took power in late 2012, the anti-graft campaign initially targeted officers loyal to factions opposing Xi’s rule. The latest purges, however, have increasingly targeted Xi’s protégés and longtime associates, sparking speculation about power struggles behind the scenes.
Aside from He, another general close to Xi, Miao Hua, was also expelled from the military and the CCP, according to the defense ministry. Miao had overseen the PLA’s political loyalty until his abrupt suspension in November 2024, when Beijing placed him under investigation for suspected corruption. He lost his position in the CMC in June this year.
The defense ministry revealed on Oct. 17 that Miao’s deputy, He Hongjun, executive deputy director of the CMC’s Political Work Department, was also ensnared in the anti-graft drive.
These individuals “seriously violated Party discipline” and are “suspected of serious duty-related misconduct, involving an extremely large amount of money,” Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson for the defense ministry, said at a briefing in Beijing.
Their offences were “of a grave nature, with extremely detrimental consequences,” Zhang said, according to the official transcript.
All nine had already been expelled from the army, and their cases will be handed to military prosecutors, he added.
The generals named by Beijing include Wang Xiubin, former executive deputy director of the CMC Joint Operations Command Center; Lin Xiangyang, former commander of the Eastern Theater Command; Qin Shutong, former political commissar of the army; and Yuan Huazhi, former political commissar of the navy.
Wang Chunning, former commander of the armed police force, and Wang Houbin, former head of the Rocket Force, which commands the country’s nuclear missiles, were also expelled, according to the ministry.
The announcement came just days before a key conclave that will gather the CCP’s most senior officials in Beijing.
By Dorothy Li
