TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China researcher Deng Yuwen (鄧聿文) wrote an article on the corruption investigation against China's Defense Minister Li Shangfu (李尚福) for Voice of America (VOA) on Sunday (Sept. 17), per UDN.
The news of China's defense minister being investigated for potential corruption has made experts question the effectiveness of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping's (習近平) oversight of high-ranking officials. The revelation also sheds light on the longstanding issue of “pre-existing," deeply rooted within China's government, making it challenging to eradicate, wrote Deng.
In his article, the U.S.-based former editor of the CCP’s Central Party School’s “Study Times” wrote that “pre-existing corruption” signifies the corruption that accumulated over more than 30 years before the 18th Party Congress due to China's rapid development and relaxed party discipline. He added, “The exact number of individuals involved cannot be precisely calculated, but given the sheer number of Chinese officials, virtually every official had some degree of suspicion of corruption.”
Li Shangfu has been absent from public view since Aug. 29 and notably missed a recent annual defense meeting with Vietnam. While Beijing authorities cited "health" reasons for his absence, multiple sources have indicated that Li faces a corruption investigation.
Deng quoted sources in Beijing saying, “Li Shangfu's problem is severe and is being investigated. His predecessor, former Defense Minister Wei Fenghe (魏鳳和), who left office in March, is also under isolation and investigation. Both are implicated in corruption cases involving senior officials in the Rocket Force.”
In July, Beijing removed two senior officers from their positions in the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) without any public explanation. Prior rumors of corruption among high-ranking officials in the Rocket Force had circulated, and reports suggested that Xi was actively purging military leaders with connections to the Rocket Force.
Deng said that if Li and Wei, the last two defense ministers, are indeed connected to corruption cases related to the Rocket Force, it would not be surprising. Li has a long history of service in the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) equipment department and has held roles as deputy commander and chief of staff of the PLA Strategic Support Force.
The equipment department is responsible for weapons procurement and has been recognized as one of the most corruption-prone sectors within the PLA. The Strategic Support Force and the Rocket Force share overlapping responsibilities, and Wei, before becoming defense minister, served as a former deputy Rocket Force commander.
Some suggested that the corruption cases involving senior Rocket Force officials may have originated from an audit conducted after Wei's departure. In his article, Deng wrote that “corruption among senior PLA officers is nothing new.”
During the 19th Party Congress, numerous high-ranking officials, including two former vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission (CMC), Guo Boxiong (郭伯雄) and Xu Caihou (徐才厚), were investigated, along with many senior officials in the CMC General Office and various theater commands.
However, if Li is indeed found to be involved in corruption, it would still be significant, unlike Guo and Xu, who were stripped of their military positions before facing legal consequences, and Wei, who faced issues after retiring. In contrast, Li is currently in office, having assumed the role of defense minister just half a year ago.
Deng noted that Xi promoted and trusted both Li and State Councilor Qin Gang (秦刚), who was removed from the position of foreign minister for undisclosed reasons. Both hold positions as state councilors, belonging to the deputy ministerial level of leadership, and both were “made sick," in reference to the official reasons given for their absence from public events, Deng wrote.
Deng said that the trust Xi placed in them sets their cases apart from typical ministerial issues and highlights problems with the Chinese president’s personnel appointments, indicating that he may not have effectively conducted reviews of senior cadres.
Deng argued, "Corruption is the cancer of the CCP, and it cannot be eradicated," adding that the sheer number of officials who have faced consequences since Xi assumed power is stark. Officially disclosed figures indicate that over 200,000 officials underwent investigations and reviews before the 20th Party Congress, including high-ranking officials like former member of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) Zhou Yongkang (周永康).
Deng questioned why so many officials are still facing corruption investigations after the 20th Party Congress. He said that the majority of these can be traced back to the 30 years before the 18th Party Congress when China was undergoing breakneck development under Deng Xiaoping’s (鄧小平) reform and opening-up policies.
Deng concluded that while Xi employs anti-corruption efforts to maintain power through intimidation to ensure officials' loyalty, these efforts also pose political and moral risks for Xi himself. For instance, when an official is investigated and seeks leniency by implicating others, it could potentially implicate Xi's close associates.
