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China's Defence Ministry on Friday announced that the country's second-ranked military general, He Weidong, along with eight other high-ranking military commanders, have been expelled from the ruling Communist Party and the army.
He Weidong, 68, was the vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and a member of the 24-member Politburo, state media reported Apart from He Weidong, Miao Hua, a CMC member has been expelled from the CPC and military service. As per a report in the official Xinhua news agency, Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson for the Defence Ministry said that seven former senior military officials have also been expelled from the CPC and military. The announcement came just days before the Communist Party's Central Committee is set to hold its Fourth Plenum in Beijing. According to Reuters news agency, He's removal is the first of a sitting general on the Central Military Commission since the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution. He has not been seen in public since March, but the investigation of his activities had not previously been disclosed by Chinese authorities. Zhang Xiaogang was cited by Xinhua that the nine senior military officials had been investigated and punished. The investigations found that the individuals had seriously violated Party discipline and are suspected of major duty-related crimes. Their violations involved exceptionally large amounts of money, and are of extremely serious nature and with extremely negative impacts, the spokesperson said The cases related to their suspected crimes will be transferred to military prosecution authorities for legal review and prosecution, according to Zhang. Xinhua cited Zhang to say that of the nine individuals, actions to expel eight from the CPC will be confirmed by the CPC Central Committee when it convenes a plenary session. (ANI)
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