China: two former generals expelled from the Communist Party

Who are the two expelled former generals

Zhang was previously vice-president of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and was considered China's most influential and powerful general before his fall from grace. Liu was also a prominent party member and important personality within the CMCC. Both had been under investigation since last January.

The decision

The expulsion of the two came after the Political Bureau of the PCC Central Committee approved the conclusions of the investigations and officially decided to remove the two former officers from the party, revoking their status as delegates to the National Congress and consequently transmitting the files to the military prosecutor's office for prosecution. The definitive expulsion, it was specified, will now have to be ratified in a plenary session of the Central Committee. Again according to the Xinhua agency, Zhang and Liu would have crossed the "red lines", participating in "factional activities", accepting "large sums of money" and gifts and abusing their political position, also with the aim of promoting promotions. Both had already been removed by the Central Military Commission last August.