China Removes Top Military and Defense Officials Amid Intensified Anti-Corruption Campaign

China intensified its anti-corruption campaign within the military and defense sectors on Friday, as the National People’s Congress (NPC) removed several top officials, including General Miao Hua, Vice Admiral Li Hanjun, and nuclear scientist Liu Shipeng.

This move, confirmed by state media and reported by the South China Morning Post, is part of President Xi Jinping’s ongoing effort to enhance ideological control and eliminate corruption within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the defense industry.

General Miao Hua, who previously led the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and was a close ally of Xi, was also removed from his position on the CMC, the top military command chaired by Xi. Miao, who became prominent following Xi's rise to power in 2012, has been under investigation since November 2024 for "serious violations of discipline," a term often used in China to denote corruption.

Vice Admiral Li Hanjun, the chief of staff of the PLA Navy, and Liu Shipeng, deputy chief engineer at China National Nuclear Corporation, were also expelled from the NPC, indicating wider scrutiny across military and strategic scientific sectors.

The NPC Standing Committee concluded its session on Friday by formalizing these expulsions. State-run Xinhua confirmed that all three officials had lost their legislative roles. Li Hanjun joins other senior officers expelled as the Communist Party increases discipline and oversight over the military and related industries.

Since Xi assumed leadership in 2012, more than a hundred senior officers and officials have been punished or removed in a broad anti-corruption initiative that has targeted two former defense ministers. This ongoing purge is seen by analysts as Xi’s strategy to consolidate power and ensure military leaders' unwavering party loyalty, as China aims to establish itself as a global military superpower.

The recent expulsions underscore rising internal tensions within China’s defense framework amid increasing external challenges and geopolitical tensions in the Indo-Pacific region.