China has expelled nine senior military officials from the Communist Party over corruption charges, said the Chinese Defence Ministry.
The list of those expelled officials includes the country’s highest-ranked uniformed officer as part of a broader crackdown on the people involved in corruption scandals.
The Chinese defence ministry announced on Friday, suggesting the officials are suspected of "serious duty-related crimes involving an extremely large amount of money".
He Weidong becomes the most senior military official to be expelled from the party since President Xi Jinping took office in 2012. He has served as one of two Vice-chairmen of the Central Military Commission and sat on the 24-member Politburo under the Xi administration.
Weidong has served as a commander of the Chinese military’s Eastern theatre command, extending to the East China Sea, including Taiwan. He was promoted to vice-chair of the Central Military Commission during Xi’s third term, which began in 2022.
The eight other expelled officials have also served key roles in the Chinese military. Beijing expelled two former defence ministers last year for accepting huge sums of money.
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Earlier in September, a Chinese court handed a death sentence to its former agricultural minister over his involvement in the corruption scandal.
The court ruling said that from 2007 to 2024, Tang misused the dignity of his various positions to assist others in such matters as business operations, project contracting and job adjustment.
It ruled that Tang accepted money and valuables worth more than 268 million Yuan, or around 37.5 million dollars, in total. The ruling Chinese Communist Party's anti-graft watchdog announced in May of last year that Tang was under investigation for suspected violations of discipline and law.
China remains among some of the nations where corruption can lead to a death penalty; the list also includes Middle Eastern nations and parts of Southeast Asia and South Asia.
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