After nearly two years of investigation, China officially announced on May 7 that former defense ministers and Central Military Commission (CMC) members Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu had been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, along with the confiscation of all personal property. According to the official statement, Wei was found guilty of accepting bribes, while Li took and gave bribes.
This marks a significant development in the ongoing People’s Liberation Army (PLA) purge. Until now, no one from the military top brass had received such severe punishments since early days of the anti-corruption campaign. What factors may have led to such harsh sentences and what are the broader implications for other PLA leaders?
A death sentence with a two-year reprieve is usually reserved for serious crimes in China, including major corruption cases, premeditated murder, and large-scale drug trafficking. The last confirmed case of a high-ranking PLA officer to receive a suspended death sentence was Gu Junshan, former deputy director of the General Logistics Department, whose corruption case reportedly involved over 600 million yuan (approximately $98 million). Apparently, Gu helped anti-corruption investigators by “exposing others,” which earned him a death sentence with two-year reprieve rather than outright execution. He is now believed to be serving a life sentence in a military prison.
