China gives former defence ministers suspended death sentences for graft

Two former Chinese defence ministers were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on Thursday in what analysts called the toughest anti-corruption penalty handed down to senior PLA officials since Xi Jinping began his push to clean up the military.

Wei Fenghe, defence minister from 2018 to 2023 and a former Rocket Force commander, took bribes. Li Shangfu, who replaced him in March 2023, took bribes and paid them to others. A military court ordered both men stripped of political rights for life. Their property was seized.

The suspended death sentence is China’s second-harshest available penalty, just below immediate execution. It normally converts to life in prison after two years if the prisoner commits no further offences. The court specified no parole or further reduction after that, according to the Xinhua state news agency. The property confiscation is already in effect.

“The nature of the crime is extremely serious, the impact is highly detrimental, and the harm is tremendous,” the court said of Wei’s case, according to the Xinhua state news agency. Li’s case included not just taking bribes but also paying them, which points to a wider circle of corrupt dealings.

The defendants

Wei commanded the Rocket Force, which controls China’s nuclear arsenal and conventional missiles, from 2015 to 2017. He became state councillor and defence minister in 2018. Investigators who looked at him in 2023 found he took “a huge amount of money and valuables” in bribes, trading favours for cash. He was removed from his posts that same year.

Li ran parts of China’s space programme before taking the defence job in March 2023. He oversaw satellite launches and crewed missions during his time at the space agency. His defence portfolio covered weapons design and procurement, a sensitive area as China pushed its military buildup near Taiwan and the South China Sea. He dropped out of public view in mid-2023 and was formally removed later.

Both men travelled the world in their roles. Wei used the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore to deliver blunt lines on maritime disputes. Li sat across from US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin at regional meetings. Their sudden disappearances had been a talking point in diplomatic circles well before the charges emerged.

Anti-corruption push

Xi’s anti-corruption campaign moved into the Rocket Force in 2023. That branch handles China’s land-based nuclear missiles and is central to its military strategy. Multiple senior officers there have been removed or prosecuted since the investigation began. The scale of it has raised questions about the state of China’s strategic deterrent and who is left to manage it.

Zhang Youxia, the PLA’s top general, was removed earlier this year. He was a CMC vice chairman and Politburo member considered close to Xi. His case marked the first time the anti-corruption drive touched the highest level of the command structure.

A third ex-defence minister, Dong Jun, has been reported under investigation since November 2024. That suggests the purge could extend further. Dong served after Li.

Earlier cases were less severe. Guo Boxiong, a former CMC vice chairman, was sentenced to life in 2016 for taking bribes. Xu Caihou, another former vice chairman, died of cancer in 2015 while still under investigation before a trial could happen. Neither received a death sentence. Before this week, those two cases were the highest-profile military corruption prosecutions of Xi’s tenure.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies assessed the purge has caused “serious deficiencies in its command structure” and probably slowed China’s military modernisation. Prosecuting two former defence ministers simultaneously has no precedent in PLA history. The message to every officer is that rank offers no protection.

Diplomacy and timing

Trump is due in Beijing on May 14, just days after the verdicts. The White House plans to raise human rights issues during the talks. A group of 107 lawmakers pressed Trump to discuss Jimmy Lai’s detention with Xi. Lai, a Hong Kong publisher, is serving 20 years under the National Security Law. The White House has not commented on the military court rulings.

The trials were closed to the public. Wei and Li have not appeared in public since their removals and it is not known where they are being held. Their lawyers have not been named. State media said the verdicts demonstrate the party fights corruption at every level of the system.

What comes next

Both men remain in custody during the two-year reprieve period. After that, life in prison with no chance of parole. Their money and property have been forfeited already.

The PLA now waits to see whether the purge continues or stops here. Three years have removed two consecutive defence ministers and a CMC vice chairman. Xi has pledged to turn the military into a world-class fighting force by 2027. Whether he sees the anti-corruption push as finished or still in progress will become clearer in the months ahead. For the officer corps, the signal is already unmistakable.