Beijing - China's Military Courts granted a two-year reprieve from the death penalty for two former defence ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu over graft charges, state news agency Xinhua reported on Thursday, 7 May 2026.
The courts also ordered that the sentences of two generals be commuted to life imprisonment without possibility of parole after two years, as both of them were suspected of receiving a high sum of money in bribery practices and gained personal benefit "for themselves and other".
"They were also stripped of their political rights for life, and all of their personal property will be confiscated... and no further commutation or parole will be allowed after their penalties are commuted to life imprisonment in accordance with the law upon the expiration of the two-year reprieve period," Xinhua reported.
Since coming to power in 2012, President Xi Jinping has ordered to make armed forces be one of the main targets of a broad corruption crackdown.
The purges reached the elite Rocket Force, which oversees nuclear weapons as well as conventional missiles, in 2023.
Even further investigation escalated and then resulted in the removal of the top general in the People's Liberation Army and Politburo member Zhang Youxia, who was also seen as an long-ally of Xi.
Citing Reuters, China's ongoing military corruption purges make serious deficiencies for its command structure and are likely to have hampered the readiness of its rapidly modernizing armed forces, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said this year.***
