China votes to oust three generals from political advisory body

Beijing: China’s top political advisory body has voted to remove three generals, state media said, a week after nine military officials were ousted from its legislature.

The move comes as Beijing escalates a sweeping purge of military officials, days before thousands of delegates from across the country meet for the annual Two Sessions political conclave on Wednesday.

Simultaneous gatherings of the country’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), and a separate political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), will be held over the course of a week.

The CPPCC voted at a Standing Committee meeting to remove retired military generals Han Weiguo, Liu Lei and Gao Jin, Xinhua said on Monday.

It also voted to remove two other members, while 10 more were officially ousted.

The move comes after the NPC ousted 19 of its delegates on Thursday, including nine military officials.

The reason for the removals was not specified.

Wang Xiangxi was also removed as minister of emergency management that same day after a probe by the country’s anti-corruption watchdog, while Liu Shaoyun was removed from his position as head of the PLA’s military court.

Since President Xi Jinping came to power more than a decade ago, he has launched a massive drive to root out graft at all levels of the Chinese Communist Party and state, with the drive targeting the military in recent years.

Xi hailed the military’s “fight against corruption” last month in a rare acknowledgement of graft, weeks after Beijing escalated a sweeping purge by probing its top general.

Beijing’s defence ministry said in January it was investigating Zhang Youxia, a vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), as well as Liu Zhenli, chief of staff of the CMC’s joint staff department, which oversees combat planning.