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Flies and Tigers | 抓蝇打虎

16 senior officials on PLA graft list

Source: Shanghai Daily | January 16, 2015, Friday | Print Edition

CHINA launched corruption investigations into 16 senior military officials last year, the People’s Liberation Army announced yesterday.

The officials accused of “seriously violating Party discipline,” a common euphemism for graft, include the former commander of the military region of north China’s Shanxi Province, Fang Wenping, the PLA said on its official website.

It was the first announcement of action faced by the officials, but it did not detail all the charges against them.

Liu Zheng and Fu Linguo, former deputy directors of the General Logistics Department, are both under investigation.

Liu was put under investigation in November by the military procuratorate, according to the PLA report which listed the 16 senior officers of corps level and above.

Liu and Fu are not the first deputy heads of the department to be in the firing line. Previously, Gu Junshan was charged with embezzlement, bribery, misuse of state funds and abuse of power.

Yu Daqing, former deputy political commissar of the Second Artillery Corps, the military’s nuclear and conventional missile division, is also under investigation, the defense ministry said on its website.

Fan Changmi, deputy political commissar of the Lanzhou Military Area Command, has also been under investigation since December, according to the PLA report.

No details were given of the status of the investigations.

Serving and retired military officers have said corruption in the armed forces could undermine China’s ability to wage war.

Some of the 16 listed are believed to have ties to former top military officer Xu Caihou, who retired as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission last year. China announced last summer that he was under investigation for graft.

Xu is said to have confessed to taking “massive” bribes in exchange for favors, such as granting promotions.

President Xi Jinping, who also heads the Central Military Commission, has vowed to eradicate corruption in the armed forces.

The report also included other names that had been released before, including Yang Jinshan, former deputy commander of the Chengdu Military Area Command, and Gao Xiaoyan, Party chief of the discipline committee at the People’s Liberation Army Information Engineering University.

The negative impact in the wake of Xu’s corruption case needs to be eliminated and the army must follow the Party’s leadership, Fan Changlong, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, said yesterday.

“The impact of Xu Caihou’s case must be eliminated resolutely,” said Fan during an inspection tour in Tianjin.

Fan said the anti-corruption campaign should continue in the military and soldiers’ interests should be protected.

He also urged the army to study Xi’s speeches on national defense and military modernization, to hone their fighting skills and to be combat ready.

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