Former Chinese military chief of staff under investigation
General Fang Fenghui, former chief of the general staff of the Chinese army, is being investigated for suspected corruption.
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Fang Fenghui, former chief of the general staff of the Chinese army. Photo:Xinhua. |
The general has just been "transferred to military prosecutors on suspicion of corruption".Xinhuatoday news
Fang Fenghui was elected to the top post of the People's Liberation Army in 2012. But he was promptly replaced at the end of August last year amid China's standoff with India over territorial disputes and just days after meeting the top US military commander to discuss North Korea.
Fang was one of two senior generals who did not appear on the list of delegates to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China last October, raising suspicions that he had committed wrongdoing in President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign.
The other was Zhang Yang, who committed suicide in Beijing last November after being investigated for his links to two former senior military officers implicated in corruption.
At the party congress, Mr. Xi promised to step up his fight against corruption, a campaign that since 2012 has brought down 1.5 million party officials at various levels, including the top military leadership. In November 2017, the military was ordered to pledge “total loyalty, honesty, and trustworthiness to Mr. Xi,” in new guidelines issued by the Central Military Commission.
