China expels No. 2 general and 8 others from the Communist Party in
anti-corruption drive
[October 18, 2025]
KEN MORITSUGU
BEIJING (AP) China's second-highest ranking general and eight other
senior officials have been expelled from the ruling Communist Party and
the military on suspicion of serious misconduct linked to corruption,
the Defense Ministry said Friday.
He Weidong, who was the vice-chair of the powerful Central Military
Commission, is the most senior official targeted so far in an ongoing
anti-graft drive against Chinese military leaders.
The nine officials are suspected of extremely serious crimes involving
exceptionally large sums of money, Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang
Xiaogang said in a statement posted online.
Their cases have been investigated and referred to military prosecutors
for review and prosecution, Zhang said.
Government anti-corruption drives have become a signature policy of
Chinese leader Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012. Thousands of
officials have been purged including high-profile political rivals.
He, who was elevated to the Central Military Commission in 2022, has not
been seen in public for months often the first indication an official
is in trouble. The announcement Friday was the first confirmation of
what had happened to him.
He also was one of the 24 members of the Politburo, the second-highest
Communist Party body after the 7-member Politburo Standing Committee.
He was formerly head of the Eastern Theater Command, which holds primary
responsibility for operations against Taiwan should hostilities break
out.
The eight other dismissed officials include the director of the Central
Military Commission's political work department, Miao Hua, who was put
under investigation last November.
The commission, chaired by Xi, is the top military body in China.
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He Weidong, then vice-chair of the powerful Central Military
Commission attends the opening session of the National People's
Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on
March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
(The offenses) were of grave nature, with extremely harmful
consequences, Zhang said. He did not provide details of the alleged
crimes.
The announcement came just days before the party holds a major
meeting in Beijing to map out the country's goals for the next five
years.
Eight of the nine military leaders removed Friday were members of
the party's Central Committee, the 205-member body that meets next
week.
Expelling them from the Communist Party clears the way for
appointing replacements on the committee, said Neil Thomas, a
Chinese politics expert at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
This move is a political show of force and a practical step to
elevate non-voting alternates into full members of the Central
Committee, he said.
High-ranking officers occupy an elevated position in Chinese
politics and can command extensive privileges, official and
unofficial.
Analysts say the anti-corruption campaign, which is popular with the
public, has also been used to enforce loyalty to Xi among party and
government officials.
In June last year, China announced that former Defense Minister Li
Shangfu and his predecessor Wei Fenghe were expelled from the
Communist Party and accused of corruption.
___
Leung reported from Hong Kong.
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