China has launched yet another corruption investigation into a senior general who oversaw its nuclear arsenal, the latest crackdown sweeping the world's largest military.
Sun Jinming , chief of staff of the Chinese military's Rocket Force , has been kicked out of the Chinese Communist Party, according to a statement released Thursday, the final day of the party’s third plenum. The twice-a-decade conclave is being held in Beijing .
Sun, an alternate member of the party’s 20th Central Committee, took on the role of chief of staff of the force in 2022. The Rocket Force oversees the country's nuclear arsenal. The corruption complaints around him mirror several others in recent years and are part of Chinese President Xi Jinping 's campaign to root out alleged corruption in his ranks.
Separately, the ruling Communist Party accepted the resignation of former Foreign Minister Qin Gang more than a year after his sudden disappearance from public view, Bloomberg reported . There was no reason given for Qin's resignation or his mysterious disappearance.
Xi’s government has unseated at least 16 senior military officials since opening its corruption investigation last summer. The investigation has looked into hardware purchases dating back to 2017. The Rocket Force underwent a major reorganization under Xi in 2015.
Last month, the government expelled two party defense ministers, Wei Fenghe and his successor Li Shangfu.
Li, China's shortest-serving defense minister, was fired in October 2023, just seven months after he was appointed to the post. He also mysteriously disappeared at the end of August 2023 and was stripped of his titles as state councilor, an odd move because officials from the CCP’s inner circle are rarely removed.
Wei held the post from 2018 to 2023 and, similar to Li, was accused of accepting bribes.
Li and Wei were expelled by the party’s leadership for “serious violation of party discipline and the law,” according to Chinese state news agencies.
Little is known about the whereabouts of Li and Wei.
Both men will face criminal prosecution. It was the first time in the history of the Chinese military that corruption investigations into two defense ministers were made public on the same day, according to the South China Morning Post.
Their ousting from the CCP follows a military purge as tensions between the United States and China continue to simmer over Xi's attempts at a power grab and escalations in the South China Sea and over the fate of Taiwan.
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Xi said last month there were “deep-seated problems” in the Chinese military’s politics, ideology, work style, and discipline. He has promised a corruption crackdown.
“There must be no hiding place for corrupt elements in the army,” Xi said, according to state-run China Central Television.
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