China expels former defence minister from Communist Party

BEIJING: Former Chinese defence minister Li Shangfu has been expelled from the ruling Communist Party for causing “great damage to (its) cause” through offences including suspected bribery, state media said on Thursday.

Li was ousted last October after only seven months in the role following a lengthy absence from public view, one of the most prominent examples in a series of high-level disappearances from China´s military establishment and political class.

State broadcaster CCTV said in a separate report on Thursday that Li´s predecessor, Wei Fenghe, had also been expelled from the party and passed on to prosecutors over alleged corruption.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has waged an unrelenting campaign against official graft since coming to power more than a decade ago.

Proponents say the drive ensures clean governance, but critics argue it also serves as a means for Xi to purge political rivals.

The Communist Party´s powerful Politburo of senior leaders ruled on Thursday Li had “betrayed his original mission and lost his party spirit and principles”, according to CCTV.

He “seriously polluted the political environment and industrial ethos in the field of military equipment, and caused great damage to the party´s cause, national defence and the construction of the armed forces”, it said.

Li is suspected of bribery, accused of abusing his position to take “huge sums of money” in return for favours and of bribing others.

He also “illegally sought personnel benefits for himself and others”, CCTV said, adding “the nature (of his offences) is extremely severe, their impact was particularly egregious, and the harm from them was particularly huge”.