China purges senior military official Miao Hua from top ruling body

Miao Hua鈥檚 photo had been removed from the senior leadership page of the Chinese defense ministry鈥檚 website in recent weeks. Above, Miao arrives in Pyongyang, North Korea on Oct. 14, 2019. (AFP file photo)
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  • Miao was put under investigation for 鈥榮erious violations of discipline鈥� in November
  • Former political ideology chief of the People鈥檚 Liberation Army was also suspended from his post

BEIJING: China鈥檚 top legislature has voted to remove senior military official Miao Hua from the Central Military Commission, its highest-level military command body, according to a statement published on Friday by state news agency Xinhua.

Miao, 69, was put under investigation for 鈥渟erious violations of discipline鈥� in November. The former political ideology chief of the People鈥檚 Liberation Army was also suspended from his post.

The Xinhua statement did not contain any other details, but the move marks another stage in President Xi Jinping鈥檚 ongoing anti-corruption purge of China鈥檚 military, in which over a dozen PLA generals and a handful of defense industry executives have been implicated.

Miao鈥檚 photo had been removed from the senior leadership page of the Chinese defense ministry鈥檚 website in recent weeks. He was also removed from China鈥檚 national legislature for 鈥渟erious violations of discipline and law,鈥� according to a communique released by the legislature last month.

鈥淭he Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission held a military representative conference on March 14 this year and decided to remove Miao Hua from his position as a representative of the 14th National People鈥檚 Congress,鈥� the statement said.

Miao was stationed in the coastal province of Fujian when Xi worked there as a local official, according to his official biography. Xi personally elevated Miao to the Central Military Commission.

Another Central Military Commission member and China鈥檚 second-ranking general, He Weidong, has not been seen in public since the March 11 closing ceremony of the annual parliamentary sessions in Beijing. Since then, he has not appeared at a series of high-level Politburo and military public engagements.

He is the third-most powerful commander of the People鈥檚 Liberation Army and is considered a close associate of President Xi Jinping, the army鈥檚 commander-in-chief.

China鈥檚 defense ministry said in March it was 鈥渦naware鈥� of reports he had been detained. His photo remains on the defense ministry鈥檚 website.

Two former Chinese defense ministers have been removed from the Communist Party for corruption. One of them, Li Shangfu, was suspected of corruption in military procurement, Reuters has reported.

Last year, the defense ministry denied reports that Defense Minister Dong Jun was being probed on suspicion of corruption. Dong has continued to appear at public events, attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization defense ministers鈥� meeting in Qingdao this week.