China’s legislature has moved to formally expel three senior military officials, confirming their removal after their disappearance from public view had raised questions about their standing within the armed forces.
The decision was taken by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and was reported by the South China Morning Post as part of the ongoing "anti-corruption crackdown." The expulsions were announced on Sunday, a day after the move was approved.
Those removed are Wang Renhua, head of the Central Military Commission’s (CMC) political and legal affairs committee; Zhang Hongbing, political commissar of the People’s Armed Police; and Wang Peng, director of the CMC’s training department. Although they have been stripped of their NPC positions, all three remain full members of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) Central Committee.
The Central Military Commission, which commands China’s armed forces, is chaired by President Xi Jinping.
The NPC also revoked the parliamentary memberships of two other senior officers — former CMC vice chairman He Weidong and He Hongjun from the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) political work department. Both were among nine senior figures expelled from the CPC and the military in October for “seriously violating party discipline.”
Wang Renhua, 63, was promoted to admiral by Xi last year and oversaw the military’s courts, procuratorates and prison system. His previous postings included work at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert and a role as deputy head of the PLA Ground Forces’ political work department. In 2017, he was appointed chief anti-corruption official for the PLA Navy’s East Sea Fleet.
Zhang Hongbing, 59, was promoted to full general in 2022. He had earlier served as political commissar of the PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command beginning in 2019.
Wang Peng, 61, was promoted to lieutenant general in December 2021 and later took charge of the CMC’s Training and Administration Department.
The expulsions come against the backdrop of a sweeping anti-graft campaign within China’s military. Since Xi Jinping assumed power in 2012, dozens of senior PLA officers have been removed or disciplined, reshaping the upper ranks of the armed forces.
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