Senior Chinese military official kills himself amid corruption probe

[손명숙]

(World Today Tuesday 28 November 2017)

Senior Chinese military official kills himself amid corruption probe

Zhang Yang (L) and Fang Fenghui, the then-chief of the general staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army attend China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) earlier this year.

Chinese state media say Zhang killed himself at his home on Nov 23. Photo: AP

Updated 28 November, 2017

BEIJING — A Chinese general who disappeared from public view during an investigation into corruption by senior military commanders was found dead at his home in Beijing after apparently committing suicide, state media said on Tuesday (Nov 28).

General Zhang Yang “hanged himself at home” on Nov 23, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said, citing China’s Central Military Commission (CMC).

He is the most senior miliary officer to have killed himself during ongoing graft investigations targeting the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the news of his death had been relayed to all five PLA theatre commands over the past few days.

Zhang, 66, was being investigated over links to Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, the two highest-ranking army commanders netted in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s anti-graft crackdown.

The probe verified that the general “gravely violated discipline”, was “suspected of giving and taking bribes” and the origin of a huge amount of assets was unclear, Xinhua said, citing the commission.

A commentary carried on both the Defence Ministry and military’s official websites said the CMC decided on Aug 28 to investigate Zhang, who had “lost his moral bottom line” and used suicide as a means to “escape punishment from the party and country”, an “extremely abominable action”.

“This former general of high position and great power used this shameful way to end his own life,” the commentary said.

“He would exhort loyalty but be corrupt behind others’ backs, a typical ‘two-faced person’,” it said.

A military source told the South China Morning Post that there there was speculation in military circles that Zhang had given Guo more than 25 million yuan (S$5.1 million) in bribes.

Zhang’s home in Guangzhou, a luxury villa, was searched by military inspectors on Saturday.

“Zhang’s death may affect other anti-graft inspection work because his case involved many other military officers,” said the source. “He may have wanted to use his death to protect friends involved in his case.”

Zhang, who had been director of the political department of the PLA, disappeared from public sight more than two months ago amid a crackdown on corruption by President Xi Jinping.

Besides Zhang, Gen Fang Fenghui, a rising star in the Chinese military, also vanished from public view.

Mr Xi has used the sweeping anti-graft campaign to remove dozens of generals and tighten his control over the military, one of China’s most powerful institutions.

Guo was given a life sentence last year after a military court found him guilty of taking bribes in return for giving promotions and transfers.

Xu died in 2015 of bladder cancer while awaiting a corruption trial.

Mr Xi has used the crackdown to modernise the PLA by ridding it of endemic corruption and elevating the professionalism of its officer corps, as older generals are replaced by younger officers more supportive of change.

Corruption has long been considered rife within the PLA, with some top generals reported to have accumulated stunning fortunes in both cash and gifts, including golden statues of Mao Zedong and cases of expensive liquor stacked to the ceiling in underground caches.

Along with the selling of ranks and positions, such practices are believed to have severely damaged morale, discipline and combat preparedness in the 2.3 million-member PLA, the world’s largest standing military.

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