BEIJING: China removed two high-ranking officers from the countr’s main military body on Friday, seven months after it was announced that Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli were being investigated for “serious violations of the law”.
Zhang’s position as the more senior of two vice chairmen on the Central Military Commission (CMC) had made him China’s highest-ranked general.
In January though, the defence ministry said that Zhang and Liu were “suspected of serious violations of discipline and the law”, a euphemism for corruption.
The announcement fit into the sweeping anti-graft drive that has defined President Xi Jinping’s time in power, but Zhang’s fall from grace shocked observers, given his seniority and the perception he was close to Xi.
On Friday, state news agency Xinhua said in a report on a meeting of the standing committee of China’s parliament that “the meeting decided to remove Zhang Youxia from the post of Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China”.
