China’s state-run media agency says the Communist Party has decided to expel two former defense ministers for seriously violating its discipline and the country’s law.
Xinhua News Agency says party leadership made the decision regarding former Defense Minister Li Shangfu and his predecessor, Wei Fenghe, on Thursday.
The outlet says the Central Military Commission’s disciplinary and supervisory body launched investigations into Li and Wei last year.
Xinhua says the investigations found the two men took advantage of their posts to seek benefits for others and accepted huge sums of money and valuables.
Xinhua reports the party’s Political Bureau has decided to transfer the suspected criminal cases to relevant bodies in the military for examination and prosecution.
Xinhua says their actions brought enormous damage to the development of national defense and the armed forces. But no details are given.
Last December, China removed nine high-ranking military officials from its top legislative body, the National People’s Congress. In the same month, three senior executives of state-owned military-related companies were also dismissed from a top advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Some Western and Hong Kong media outlets reported at the time that the dismissals could be related to a corruption probe into procurements by the military’s Rocket Force, which manages nuclear and missile arsenals.
Chinese President Xi Jinping used a military meeting last week to underscore his determination to continue thorough crackdowns on corruption.