China's military court on May 7 handed suspended death sentences to two former defense ministers, Wei Fenghe(魏鳳和) and Li Shangfu(李尚福), marking a significant escalation in Chinese leader Xi Jinping's years-long effort to root out corruption in the armed forces.
Both men were convicted of bribery-related offenses. Under Chinese law, the sentences will convert to life imprisonment once the two-year reprieve period expires, with no prospect of early release or further reduction. Their personal assets were fully confiscated and both were permanently stripped of political rights.
The Two Ministers and Their Falls From Power
Wei held the defense portfolio from 2018 to 2023 and was found to have accepted bribes while helping associates obtain favorable personnel appointments. Li, who took over from Wei in early 2023, faced the more serious charge of both taking and offering bribes — and was removed from office after only seven months, following an unexplained two-month absence from public life that fueled widespread speculation about his fate. Both men had previously held seats on the Central Military Commission and served as state councilors, placing their downfall among the most consequential in the current military purge.
A Military Establishment Under Siege
The sentences land against a backdrop of sustained turbulence at the top of China's military hierarchy. Earlier this year, the PLA's most senior general, Zhang Youxia — a Politburo Standing Committee member and a figure widely seen as personally close to Xi — was also removed from his post. The crackdown has extended into the Rocket Force, the branch responsible for China's nuclear and conventional missile capabilities, which saw its own leadership swept out in 2023.
Xi addressed the campaign directly in February, describing the military as having been strengthened through its confrontation with internal corruption. The PLA's official newspaper echoed that message, calling on officers at all levels to treat the two cases as a cautionary lesson.
Anti-Corruption Drive or Political Purge?
Suspended death sentences followed by commutation are not rare at China's ministerial level — a former justice minister in 2022 and a former railways minister in 2013 followed the same legal trajectory. But the campaign has drawn scrutiny from outside observers, who argue that while corruption in China's military is genuine and widespread, the prosecutions have also functioned as a tool for consolidating political control.
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