Latest PLA graft sweep linked to fallen 'tigers' and Guo Boxiong
Staff Reporter
2015-03-08
Guo Boxiong is expected to be the next major military official to be probed for corruption. (Internet photo)
The majority of the People's Liberation Army officials named in the latest round of anti-graft investigations and convictions announced by China's Central Military Commission have ties to fallen "tigers" Bo Xilai, Gu Junshan and Xu Caihou, as well as soon-to-be-probed CMC vice-chairman Guo Boxiong, reports Duowei News, a US-based Chinese political news outlet.
Of the 14 officials listed in the March 2 announcement, the most notable is Guo Boxiong's son, Guo Zhenggang, a deputy political commissar of the military in the eastern province of Zhejiang who had only been promoted to major-general in January. His father, the 72-year-old Guo Boxiong, is widely speculated to be the next PLA leader to be nabbed for graft after fellow retired CMC vice-chairman Xu Caihou was placed under investigation for bribery last March and expelled from the Communist Party in June.
Reports claim that Guo Zhenggang had set up a company to develop military-use security software and took advantage of his father's position and authority to ensure that his company was the only one in the running to win the lucrative tender. His wife, Wu Fanggang, has also been accused of fraud relating to a business dispute between tenants of a commercial complex she runs.
Another prominent name on the list is Zhu Heping, the joint logistics chief of the Chengdu Military Area Command. Zhu was put under investigation in August 2014 for suspected "serious disciplinary violations" and transferred to military judicial organ in January.
Zhu was reportedly very close to disgraced Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai when the former was commander of the Chongqing garrison and deputy commander of the PLA's 14th Army Corps in southwest China's Yunnan province, which has long been regarded as Bo's power base because his father, Communist Party elder Bo Yibo, was one of the founders of the battle group. It has been claimed that Zhu was the official in charge of surrounding the US consulate in Chengdu in February 2012 when Bo's ex-police chief Wang Lijun attempted to defect. The incident, which made international headlines, eventually sparked Bo's spectacular fall from grace and led to his life sentence for corruption handed down in 2013.
Wang Aiguo, the former head of the Joint Logistics Department of the Shenyang Military Area Command — known as Xu Caihou's power base — was probed last November and transferred to judicial authorities in February. Naturally, his rapid career progression has been linked to Xu, who had personally promoted him to joint logistics chief of the area.
Lan Weijie, former deputy commander of Hubei provincial military command, was sentenced to life in prison in January for accepting bribes, owning property bought with unidentified sources and the illegal possession of firearms. He is said to have been a long-term subordinate of Gu Junshan between 2001 and 2012. Gu, who also has strong ties to Xu, was deputy chief of the PLA's General Logistics Department between 2009 and 2012. He was charged with corruption, bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power in March 2014.
Liu Hongjie, who is in charge of logistics support under the PLA's General Staff Headquarters, is reportedly a close confidant of both Guo and Xu. Liu, who was considered a rising political star until his downfall, had entered the CMC at the age of 51, earlier than most, and worked directly for Guo and Xu's offices.
Zhang Dongshui, the deputy political commissar of the Second Artillery Corps, was placed under investigation just 13 days after he was promoted. He is rumored to have bribed Xu and Guo to improve his career prospects.
Other notable officials on the list include Huang Xianjun, former head of the political department of Shanxi provincial military command, and Duan Tianjie, deputy head of the political department of the National Defense University. Both officials were taken down amid a flurry of investigations into Shanxi last year.
