China strips two ex-generals of rank over corruption

In January, Fang was reported to have been under investigation for bribery and corruption. Fang served as chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Guangzhou Military Area Command from 2003 to 2007.

In January, Fang was reported to have been under investigation for bribery and corruption. Fang served as chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Guangzhou Military Area Command from 2003 to 2007.

China on Tuesday announced that it had stripped two senior former generals, including one who committed suicide last year, of their Chinese Communist Party membership and military rank on charges of corruption.

One of the generals, Fang Fenghui, was a member of China’s Central Military Commission (CMC) and former chief of the Joint Staff Department under the CMC. He has been removed from his post as deputy to the National People’s Congress (NPC), according to an announcement from the NPC’s Standing Committee.

In January, Fang was reported to have been under investigation for bribery and corruption. Fang served as chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Guangzhou Military Area Command from 2003 to 2007. After that, he became the Commander of the Beijing Military Area Command and was promoted to the position of chief of staff of PLA in 2012.

Zhang Yang, a former member of China’s Central Military Commission (CMC) and former head of the CMC Political Work Department, was also posthumously expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC). Zhang committed suicide at his home in Beijing on November 23 last year after authorities launched a corruption investigation into his ties with disgraced military chiefs Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou.

“The violations are very serious and the amount of corruption is huge. It caused a serious damage,” said a statement released on the state news agency Xinhua. The statement by the Central Military Commission said Fang was not loyal to the Communist Party, and had done serious damage to the party and the Army.

The two are the latest officials who have been punished under President Xi’s anti-corruption campaign. Soon after assuming office in 2012, Xi had launched a high-profile campaign targeting officials suspected of corruption.

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