On June 27, 2024, a piece of news that shocked China and the world was released: two former Chinese defense ministers, Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe, were dealt with on the same day.
These two senior military officers, who once wore military uniforms and looked upright, have now been expelled from the Party and the military, and have been transferred to the military procuratorate for review and prosecution on suspicion of crimes.
In addition to the common crimes of corruption, bribery, and offering bribes, they were also accused of “seriously polluting the political ecology and industry atmosphere in the field of military equipment”, causing great damage to the Party’s cause, national defense, and military construction.
The official announcement repeatedly used words such as “extremely”, “very”, and “especially”, highlighting the seriousness of the incident.
As a core position of the country, the corruption of the defense minister is far more harmful than other senior officials. It is worth noting that Li Shangfu was suspected of offering bribes, while Wei Fenghe was accused of accepting bribes. Considering that Li is Wei’s successor, this detail is thought-provoking.
The announcement of the Li Shangfu case specifically mentioned that he “seriously polluted the political ecology and industry atmosphere in the field of military equipment”.
This may be related to an announcement issued by the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission in 2023, which solicited clues about violations of laws and disciplines in equipment procurement bidding and review activities since October 2017.
Before serving as defense minister, Li Shangfu served as the Minister of the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission and the Chief Commander of China’s manned spaceflight project from 2017 to November 2022. This background makes his case even more sensitive.
In the past six months, a total of 12 generals and 5 senior executives of military industrial enterprises have been dismissed, mainly involving the Rocket Force, the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission, and aerospace-related units.
These are all core and key units of national defense construction. A series of high-level personnel changes have undoubtedly brought a negative impact on the reputation of the military.
Wei Fenghe’s fall seemed to have been foreshadowed.
Since the second half of 2023, many senior generals of the Rocket Force have fallen, many of whom were Wei Fenghe’s former subordinates, including former Rocket Force Commander Zhou Yaning, Li Yuchao, and former Deputy Commanders Zhang Zhenzhong and Li Chuangguang.
As the core of China’s defense forces, the strategic position of the Rocket Force is of paramount importance. However, the successive high-level corruption problems in this force, which has been highly anticipated, are really heartbreaking.
On October 24, 2022, the United States released a 255-page report containing a large amount of confidential information about the Chinese Rocket Force.
The report not only disclosed the serial numbers and locations of the Rocket Force, but also detailed the personal information of commanders at all levels, and even included the number and specific locations of ammunition depots.
The publication of this report is shocking, because the Rocket Force has always been regarded as one of the most confidential forces in the Chinese military.
What is even more surprising is that the report mentioned the Dongfeng 27 missile, which had never been disclosed in China before.
The United States chose to release this report during the 20th National Congress of China, which is considered a strategic move, with the aim of conveying the message “we know your cards” to China, so as to contain China’s actions on the Taiwan issue.
Some analysts believe that the United States’ disclosure of these confidential information may force China to rectify its military, thereby delaying China’s action plan on the Taiwan issue. This may buy the United States and its allies two to three years of preparation time.
Li Shangfu is a descendant of the old Red Army, and his father was Li Shaozhu, the former deputy commander of the Southwest Command of the Railway Soldiers.
It is said that tigers come out of the general’s family, but now it seems that it is not necessarily so.
As for how these confidential information was leaked, it is unknown.
This series of events has triggered people’s deep thinking about the problem of military corruption, which not only involves personal morality, but also concerns national security and international status.
How to prevent high-level corruption in the military, how to protect national secrets in international games, and how to maintain the reputation and combat effectiveness of the military are all important issues that need to be addressed.
Source: Phoenix Oriental Media
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