China probes seven top military officers over graft: army daily
China has placed seven senior People's Liberation Army (PLA) officers under investigation this year for alleged corruption, the military's main newspaper reported Monday, as a crackdown on graft intensifies. The website of the PLA Daily said the seven included Guo Zhenggang, son of Guo Boxiong, a former vice chairman of the ruling Communist Party's Central Military Commission, which is chaired by party chief Xi Jinping. Guo Boxiong served as vice chairman of the powerful commission from 2003 until 2012 under the previous leadership of then party chief and state president Hu Jintao. Xi, who is also state president, has vowed no leniency in a push to clean up the party, government and military from rampant fraud that he and other leaders say threatens the party's decades-long grip on power. He has vowed to pursue what are colourfully described as both "tigers" and "flies", a reference to both powerful figures as well as lower ranking ones in a bid to cleanse the party, government and military machinery. Xi's anti-graft campaign has ensnared a number of senior figures including Zhou Yongkang, a former member of China's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee. But critics say the Communist Party has resisted introducing reforms seen as key measures against graft, such as publishing officials' assets, relaxing controls on media and establishing an independent legal system. Xi replaced Hu as head of the party in November 2012 and as president in March 2013 as part of a highly choreographed once-a-decade power transfer. The PLA Daily website also reported that the cases of six senior PLA officers who had been under investigation were handed over to military prosecutors this year. Separately, it said that Lan Weijie, former deputy commander of Hubei Military Region, was sentenced to life imprisonment by Guangzhou Military Court in January for taking bribes, possessing large amounts of property from unidentified sources and illegal possession of firearms, ammunition.
