Chinese Military Court Awards “Death” To Two Former Defence Ministers For Corruption
China hands suspended death sentences to former defence ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu in a major military corruption case. Image courtesy: Wikimedia Commons.
Two former Chinese Defence Ministers were, on Thursday (May 7, 2026), awarded “death” sentences by a military court, but the punishments, on corruption charges, were “suspended”.
The two former Defence Ministers, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, were found “guilty” by the military court on charges of accepting and offering bribes.
However, they got a two-year reprieve from the punishment. Usually, such suspended death sentences are commuted to life imprisonment in Communist China.
The two former Defence Ministers are the latest military leaders to face the wrath of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s so-called anti-graft actions that led to the purging of leaders that Xi is uncomfortable with over the last decade.
Xi had announced the anti-corruption drive soon after he assumed power in 2012. The anti-graft drive has continued unabated, with several 100s of military officers being purged from their roles and removed from key positions.
The purges have left Communist China’s powerful Central Military Commission, which in years past had 11 members, with just one member apart from Xi himself now.
So purportedly targeting corruption, Xi has used the anti-graft drive to consolidate political power and assert loyalty and control among the political and military top brass. However, it is not clear if any of the purged leaders had any policy disagreements with Xi.
Wei served as Defence Minister between 2018 and early 2013, when he was removed, and Li was appointed in his place. But Li himself fell out of favour just months after assuming charge and disappeared from public view after being removed in October 2023.
Li spent most of his career as a specialist in the missile and procurement branches of the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Liberation Army.
He had faced US travel and financial sanctions over the purchase of Russian military hardware. Both Wei and Li were expelled from the CCP ranks in 2024, effectively sealing their fate.
Li’s replacement, Dong Jun, continues to be Communist China’s Defence Minister. But he was not appointed to the powerful Central Military Commission, which oversees military affairs, though it is a standard appointment for someone in the role of defence minister.
