~ Linn Maung ~
The way senior generals in China have been purged and arrested for misdemeanor, the People’s Liberation Army of China seems to be a den of corruption. While this may be true, the real reason why the axe is falling on them is that President Xi Jinping suspects them of disloyalty.
In a crackdown on the eve of the four-day plenary session of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from October 20, as many as nine senior generals of the PLA were punished for violation of discipline and work-related crime; among them He Weidong, second vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the second ranking general of the PLA.
The Chinese army is not an army where the troops are commanded by officers owing allegiance to the nation, but is really the military wing of the Chinese Communist Party. The senior generals are also members of the Central Committee of the CCP. By virtue of their positions, they also attend the plenary sessions of the party.
Interestingly, however, the CCP plenary from October 20 was marked by low attendance. Out of 205 full members of the Central Committee, only 168 were present at the plenary. This was because of the absence from the plenary of active duty generals who were also members of the Central Committee; being under investigation.
Out of 42 military members of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, 27 were absent from the plenum; a 63 percent rate of absence, among them 22 full generals. The expulsions of only eight of them from the PLA have been formally confirmed. The other 14 have quietly disappeared from public view.
These nine senior army officers who have been axed have been accused of extremely serious crimes involving exceptionally large sums of money. General He and eight other generals expelled from the party and the military have been accused of being involved in “serious duty-related crimes” involving “particularly large sums of money.”
Besides General He, the other top military officers under investigation include Miao Hua, former member of the Central Military Commission in charge of the political and ideological work in the military; Miao’s deputy He Hongjun, Executive Deputy Director of the CMC, Joint Operations Command; Wang Xiubin, Executive Deputy Director of CMC ; former Commander of Eastern Theatre Command Lin Xiangyang; former Political Commissar of the army Qin Shutong; former Political Commissar of the navy Yuan Huazhi; former Commander of the Rocket Force Wang Houbin and former Commander of the People’s Armed Police force Wang Chunning.
Observers have described this rate of attendance in a plenary as the lowest in the history of the CCP. While 14 Central Committee members of the party were expelled during the session and 11 replacements were made from among civilians, none of the military vacancies were filled.
It is significant that General Zhang Shengmin, who also leads the Discipline Inspection Commission of the military, has replaced General He Weidong in the CMC as Vice-Chairman.
The announcement by the military that nine Generals have been expelled from the party and the military for crimes involving “particularly large sums” offers no further detail. Usually, cases involving senior military officers in China are shrouded in secrecy. Still, the opaque language used in official announcements offer some clues.
The language used in an editorial carried in the PLA Daily, the mouthpiece of the PLA, following the announcement of the expulsion of the nine Generals, titled ‘Resolutely carry the fight against corruption in the military through the end,’ offers some clues. As quoted in the South China Morning Post, the editorial says the political challenges facing China’s military are “complex and intricate” and there are “numerous factors” undermining the CCP’s “absolute leadership over the military” and undermining the political character of the PLA. “We must fully recognize that the fight against corruption is deeply related to the party’s absolute leadership over the military. It is a major political struggle that we cannot afford to lose and must not lose.”
It accused the nine Generals of “losing party principles, succumbing to ideological collapse and disloyalty, seriously undermining the principle that the party commands the gun and the CMC Chairman (President Xi) assumes overall responsibility.”
Analysts say the key expressions in this discourse are “ideological collapse” and “disloyalty.” There is anxiety over a breakdown in the belief in ideals of the CCP and disloyalty to President Xi Jinping himself.
Coming in the wake of the expulsions from the CCP of two Defence Ministers last year and the year before — Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe — the series of expulsions of top Generals from the PLA on vague charges of corruption betray a lack of confidence on the part of President Xi at a time when the Chinese economy is faltering. The high rate of growth on which the CCP had capitalized to justify its rule has now decelerated.
General He Weidong, in particular, had been a favourite of President Xi because the two had served together in the Fujian province in the 1990s. President Xi, according to China observers, had encouraged a Fujian clique to grow strong in the PLA; but was no longer willing to do so when he suspected that General He was assembling a coterie behind his back. Four of the expelled Generals had overlapping tenures in the former 31st Group Army and the Eastern Sea Fleet based out of Fujian; among them He Weidong, Miao Hua, Lin Xiangyang and Wang Xiubin.
China analysts say another powerful lobby in the PLA, the Shaanxi gang, led by the First Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Zhang Youxia, the top General of the PLA, might have been used to rip through the Fujian clique. President Xi had a long association with the Shaanxi province too and had started his political career there. Not surprisingly, General Zhang Shengmin, who has replaced General He Weidong in the CMC, also had association with Shaanxi. As leader of the Discipline Inspection Committee of the PLA, he occupied a key post.
A possible motive for the vendetta executed by the Shaanxi gang could have been the purge of former Defence Minister Li Shangfu, a close confidante of General Zhang Youxia for whom the removal of Li Shangfu could have been a setback.
It seems disloyalty to President Xi has provoked crackdowns and the different factions in the PLA have been used as pawns in this power game.
But can an army riddled with factions fight? It has been argued that replacements are made quickly in place of senior officers removed on disciplinary grounds or on charges of corruption. But the new incumbents will be suffering from uncertainties and the trust deficit will be hard to bridge; standing in the way of smooth functioning. The factionalism is sure to hinder joint operations and interoperability between different wings of the armed forces.
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