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 China’s 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.
Those whose membership was terminated from the NPC included Zhang Zhenzhong, Zhang Yulin, Rao Wenmin, Ju Xinchun, Ding Laihang, Lu Hong, Li Yuchao, Li Chuanguang and Zhou Yaning, according to the NPC announcement.
They were terminated under the relevant provisions of the law of the People’s Republic of China concerning the representatives to the NPC, said the official announcement issued on Friday.
Those who were terminated from the Rocket Force were reportedly closely linked to the dismissed Defence Minister Gen. Li Shangfu, whose whereabouts are not known.
Li, who headed the Rocket Force, was summarily dismissed following an investigation of corruption against many officials of the unit, which formed part of PLA’s strategic forces handling the nuclear missiles.
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.
Representatives of the PLA from all the military wings hold a chunk of the 2,996-strong member NPC.
While the NPC holds its annual session with full members, a 175-member Standing Committee of the NPC periodically meets to conduct that legislative business.
On Friday, it announced that this year’s annual session will be held on March 5.
Also the NPC Standing Committee Friday appointed Dong, a close confidant of Chinese President Xi, as Defence Minister.
Dong, formerly the commander of the Chinese navy, was promoted to the rank of general in September 2021, making him one of the highest-ranking officers in active service.
Before Li, Foreign Minister Qin Gang was also removed without an explanation. Qin was replaced by Wang Yi as Foreign Minister. Earlier this year Qin succeeded Wang as the country’s top diplomat.
The fate of both Li and Qin is not known.
Li had disappeared from the public eye in late August and no reason was given for his removal either.
