In the most severe punishments issued under Xi Jinping, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu receive two-year reprieves as part of a sweeping crackdown on corruption and disloyalty that has reshaped the People’s Liberation Army.
A Chinese military court has handed down suspended death sentences to two former defense ministers, marking the most severe judicial action taken against senior military figures in the era of President Xi Jinping. The verdicts against Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, announced on Thursday, cap a two-year legal process following their expulsion from the Communist Party for extremely serious misconduct.
The court convicted Wei Fenghe of accepting bribes and Li Shangfu of both giving and accepting bribes. Each man was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, a penalty that, under Chinese law, is typically commuted to life imprisonment after the review period. Xinhua News Agency reported the findings but offered no details regarding the specific amounts involved, the timeline of the alleged offenses, or how the defendants pleaded. It remains unclear whether the former generals had legal representation during the proceedings.
These sentences represent a significant escalation in the punishment of disgraced officers. They surpass the life sentences previously handed down to other purged commanders and mark the first time suspended death sentences have been issued against senior officers since 2015.
A Historic Purge
The convictions are the latest development in what analysts describe as the most extensive purge of China’s armed forces since the Mao Zedong era. Over the past three years, Xi Jinping has systematically removed dozens of senior military figures in a campaign targeting corruption and ensuring political loyalty.
Wei Fenghe served as defense minister from 2018 to 2023, a role primarily focused on military diplomacy rather than combat command. He was succeeded by Li Shangfu, who held the post for only seven months before his abrupt removal. Both men were members of the powerful Central Military Commission, the body chaired by Xi that commands the armed forces.
The purge has dramatically altered the composition of the commission. Following the ousting of Wei and Li, and the recent investigation into Gen. Zhang Youxia, Xi now has just one uniformed officer serving on the commission, a sharp decline from the six who began the current term in 2022. According to a review by The Wall Street Journal, more than 75 senior military officers and defense industry executives have been investigated, removed, or replaced since the crackdown intensified in the summer of 2023.
Strategic Implications
The scale of the shakeup has occurred while the People’s Liberation Army maintains a high operational tempo, conducting complex maneuvers near Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its territory. However, defense analysts warn that the simultaneous removal of such a vast number of top commanders raises serious questions regarding combat readiness and morale within the two-million-strong force.
Since ascending to power in 2012, Xi has utilized these anti-corruption drives to consolidate his control and accelerate plans to modernize a military that has not fought a full-scale war since the 1979 conflict with Vietnam. The objective is to transform the PLA into a nimble, 21st-century fighting force capable of integrated joint operations and projecting power in the digital age—a capability essential for competing with the United States for strategic dominance.
As Xi moves to rebuild a leadership battered by scandal, his focus has shifted toward ideological rigidity. In April, he presided over the opening of a new training program for senior officers at the National Defense University in Beijing, where he emphasized the necessity of firm belief in Marxism and loyalty to the party.
Joining this party and this military requires firm belief in Marxism and loyalty to the party’s beliefs, organization and cause, Xi told the attendees. He further instructed senior officials to lead by example in restoring and carrying forward the fine traditions of the party and the military, signaling a future where political reliability is the primary metric for advancement.
