A military court in China sentenced former defense ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu to death with a two-year reprieve on graft charges, a punishment that is usually commuted to life imprisonment after the waiting period. The court also ordered the confiscation of all personal assets and barred any possibility of sentence reduction or parole. Li was additionally found guilty of offering bribes. The ruling is the latest sign that Beijing's anti-corruption campaign has reached deep into the armed forces.
The timing matters because both men occupied one of the most sensitive posts in China's state system, overseeing the military at a moment when President Xi Jinping has repeatedly warned that corruption must be rooted out. Wei served as defense minister from 2018 to 2023. Li replaced him in March 2023 but was removed only months later after disappearing from public view, which set off speculation that he had fallen under investigation. The BBC report said he had been dismissed in October 2023, two months after that disappearance.
According to the supplied reports, Li was suspected of taking huge sums of money in bribes and of bribing others, while investigators said he had failed to meet political responsibilities and sought personal gain for himself and others. Wei was also accused of accepting a huge amount of money and valuables and of helping others gain improper benefits in personnel arrangements. Politico said the convictions were delivered by a Chinese military court, while Xinhua and the BBC said the sentence would be automatically converted to life imprisonment after the reprieve period.
The outcome reflects the breadth of Xi's anti-corruption drives. Since taking power, he has launched repeated campaigns that Beijing describes as necessary discipline and that critics argue can also serve as a way to remove rivals. The BBC report said the announcement followed the removal of several top military figures, including the country's top military general, Zhang Youxia. Xi's rare public reference to the purge in February framed the army as having undergone revolutionary tempering in the fight against corruption.
The case also shows how much political weight China places on military discipline. A defense minister in China is not just a civilian representative; the post carries symbolic importance because the armed forces answer ultimately to the Communist Party. A conviction at this level signals that the current leadership is still willing to target senior figures who once appeared insulated by rank, particularly when bribery allegations touch procurement, promotions and political loyalty.
The sentences do not end the wider debate over the anti-corruption drive, but they do add another dramatic chapter to it. By sentencing two former defense ministers in the same proceeding, the court signaled that the military is not exempt from the campaign's harshest consequences. For Xi's government, that may be the point. For observers, it is another reminder that in China, anti-graft enforcement and political control can be difficult to separate.
The ruling also reinforces how high-profile military corruption cases have become a public test of Xi's authority, not just a criminal proceeding.
