The purge within the Chinese Communist Party’s military continues as 8 national People’s Congress representatives were removed from their positions, including former Army Lieutenant General You Haitao and Navy Vice Admiral Li Pengcheng of the Southern Theater Command. Among them, You Haitao is considered a second-generation red.
The 13th meeting of the 14th National People’s Congress Standing Committee of the CCP concluded on the 25th, with official announcements stating the dismissal of 8 national People’s Congress representatives. The list includes Wei Xingang, former Party Secretary of the Health Commission in Heilongjiang Province, Ji Jianjun, former Mayor of Zhoukou City in Henan, Pang Guoming, former Director of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Kaifeng City, Henan Province, Sheng Wenjun, former Party Secretary of Qianjiang City in Hubei, Li Chuyuan, former Chairman of Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group, Ma Ningyu, former Mayor of Guiyang, as well as You Haitao and Li Pengcheng from the Army and Navy respectively. You Haitao also had his corresponding duties as a member of the National People’s Congress Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee revoked.
Public records show that the 66-year-old You Haitao, hailing from Henan, is a second-generation red; he is the younger son of former Commander of the Chengdu Military Region and Guangzhou Military Region, You Taizhong. You Haitao previously served as the Commander of the 42nd Group Army, Deputy Commander of the Nanjing Military Region in July 2013, was promoted to Vice Admiral in July 2014, then assumed the role of Deputy Commander of the Army in 2015 before retiring.
Li Pengcheng, aged 61, previously served as the Head of the Navigation Assurance Department of the Navy Command, Deputy Chief of Staff of the North Sea Fleet, and Director of the Navy Equipment Research Institute. Starting in 2016, Li Pengcheng held positions including Chief of Staff of the East Sea Fleet and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy. In March 2024, Li Pengcheng was appointed as the Navy Vice Admiral and Commander of the Southern Theater Command.
Since July last year, a corruption scandal has unfolded within the Chinese Communist Party, resulting in the downfall of dozens of generals and senior executives in the military-industrial complex, including five senior officers such as two former Defense Ministers, Li Shangfu and Wei Feng, two former Rocket Force Commanders, Li Yuchao and Zhou Yaning, and former Air Force Commander Ding Laihang.
On November 28 this year, the Chinese Communist Party Ministry of National Defense announced that General Miao Hua, a member of the Central Military Commission and Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission, has been suspended pending investigation for serious disciplinary violations.
Furthermore, on the 23rd of this month, four senior generals were absent from the promotion ceremony of the new Army Political Commissar, Chen Hui, including Army Commander Li Qiaoming, former Army Political Commissar Qin Shutong, Navy Political Commissar Yuan Huazhi, and Armed Police Force Commander Wang Chunning. Many outside experts believe that these four individuals may have fallen out of favor.
Yuan Hongbing, a scholar based in Australia, recently expressed to Epoch Times that the CCP’s cleansing of the military, while officially citing reasons such as corruption and lifestyle issues, in internal information within the CCP system, all cases primarily stem from political disloyalty, not being loyal to Xi Jinping.