Both fallen generals (one of whom already committed suicide) were accused of “being two-faced” and “disloyal to the Party.”
On October 16, China’s state news agency Xinhua announced that Fang Fenghui and Zhang Yang, two former top general in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, were officially expelled from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Both fallen generals had been stripped of their ranks earlier by the Central Military Commission (CMC), the highest body that controls the Chinese military.
As The Diplomat has been closely following, the fall of both senior generals was verified several months ago.
Last November, Xinhua revealed that Zhang Yang, 66, a former member of the CMC, “hanged himself at home” on the morning of November 23 while under a corruption investigation. He is the highest-ranking military official to commit suicide under the anti-corruption campaign launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping. China’s military’s official mouthpiece, the People’s Liberation Army Daily, condemned Zhang for “ending his life in such a shameful way.”
This January, Xinhua made public that Fang Fenghui, 67, a former member of the CMC and former chief of staff of the CMC Joint Staff Department, was “transferred to the military prosecution authority on suspicion of offering and accepting bribes.”
In the latest statement, Xinhua said Zhang had “seriously violated the Party’s political discipline and political rules.
