China widens PLA anti-graft campaign, expelling corporate chiefs, 16 generals from party

Crackdown ensnares China’s former nuclear, aerospace and shipbuilding chiefs alongside former theatre command leaders

Beijing has given new details about the scale of its anti-corruption drive into the People’s Liberation Army and defence industry, with fresh names confirmed as being investigated.

They include top generals who once oversaw theatre commands, heads of the powerful Central Military Commission’s General Office and executives in key defence companies.

The names are included in a communique released at the close of the fifth plenum of the 20th Central Committee on Thursday, as the party concluded its investigation of the officials and executives and finalised decisions to expel them.

Former PLA generals expelled from China’s Communist Party for factionalism and disloyalty

The four-day conclave confirmed the expulsion of 33 full and alternate Central Committee members, including 16 senior generals, indicating that the unprecedented anti-corruption storm sweeping through the armed forces shows no sign of abating.