In recent days, the corruption within the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force has been exposed due to Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption efforts since last year. Former Chinese Public Security Bureau counter-terrorism commissioner Liu Yuejin has been sent for prosecution, revealing the unexpected connection between the Communist Party’s counter-terrorism system and the Rocket Force, as well as their shared traits of corruption.
According to a column written by a Radio Free Asia commentator on September 30, within the detention center, Liu Yuejin – who used to hold the title of “Public Security Bureau counter-terrorism commissioner” – served as the deputy leader of the National Anti-Terrorism Work Leading Group and Director of the National Counter-Terrorism Office. It is noted that there were military personnel within this national anti-terrorism leadership (coordination) group.
Before, there was a National Counter-Terrorism Coordination Group that later upgraded to the National Counter-Terrorism Leadership Group. As reported by the Beijing Youth Daily, on August 27, 2013, the First Plenary Session of the National Anti-Terrorist Work Leadership Group was held in Beijing, officially establishing the National Anti-Terrorist Work Leadership Group. As a coordinating body of the Chinese State Council, the group leader was the then State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun, with subordinate offices such as the leadership group office and the counter-terrorism operational planning department.
The report quoted official experts saying that this anti-terrorism leadership group consists of fixed and non-fixed members. The fixed members include professionals and coordinating departments from disciplines such as diplomacy, public security, security, armed police, and the General Staff Department, while departments like transportation, civil affairs, and health serve as non-fixed members. The deputy leader of the leadership group also serves as the Secretary-General of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the military, and Commander of the Armed Police Force.
In December 2015, Liu Yuejin was appointed as the Public Security Bureau counter-terrorism commissioner and later succeeded Deputy Minister of Public Security Li Wei (Major General of the Armed Police) as the deputy leader of the National Anti-Terrorism Work Leading Group and Director of the Office. During his tenure in this institution, his military colleague was Rocket Force Major General Shao Yuanming. An article was once published on April 14, 2017 by The Paper which was titled “Military representative Shao Yuanming appointed as deputy leader of the National Anti-Terrorism Leadership Group, Liu Yuejin appointed as Director of National Counter Terrorism.”
Responsible for managing the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, also known as the “Second Artillery Force,” the force has been described as a pivotal military asset personally developed by Xi Jinping but plagued by severe corruption. In January this year, Bloomberg cited sources saying that US intelligence assessments listed several instances of corruption within the Chinese military, including missiles being filled with water instead of fuel and missile launch silo covers in a large area in western China that were unable to effectively launch missiles.
The scandal within the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force gained attention starting from the dismissal of Rocket Force Commander Li Yuchao and Political Commissar Xu Hongbo in July 2023. In this wave of military cleansing, dozens of high-ranking individuals, including Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu and three successive Rocket Force commanders Li Yuchao, Zhou Yaning, Wei Fenghua, and others, were investigated, with Rocket Force officers being the most affected.
The aforementioned article by the commentator stated that while there has been no news of Shao Yuanming being implicated in the Rocket Force scandal since its outbreak, it is believed he may not be entirely clean.
Born in 1956, Shao Yuanming rose through the ranks within the former Second Artillery Force’s 53rd base stationed in Kunming, Yunnan, which became Rocket Force’s 62nd base after military reforms. In 2012, he ascended from the base commander position to become the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Second Artillery Force, and in January 2017 was appointed as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Central Military Commission’s Joint Staff Department, promoted to the rank of Major General in July 2018. Before retiring in 2021, Shao Yuanming also participated in international conferences as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff Department.
The commentator noted that Shao Yuanming had varying degrees of connections with ousted Rocket Force officers in his earlier years. When the Rocket Force scandal erupted, Shao Yuanming had already been stripped of any positions, including being a member of the National People’s Congress or the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, so his lack of public exposure despite being arrested along with Wei Fenghua, Zhou Yaning, Li Yuchao, and others was not unexpected.
Shao Yuanming was promoted to Major General in the Rocket Force while serving as the deputy leader of the National Counter-Terrorism Leadership Group, but after his promotion, he no longer held the position. His successor in this concurrent role was also a Rocket Force Major General.
On May 25, 2018, during a national counter-terrorism teleconference in Beijing, Rocket Force Major General Chen Guangjun made his first public appearance as the Deputy Leader of the National Anti-Terrorism Work Leading Group.
Public records show that Chen Guangjun, born in 1966 in Hubei Province, holds a doctorate degree from Northwestern Polytechnic University. In November 2015, he became the Director of the Intelligence Department of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission. In 2017, he was appointed as the Assistant Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff Department, later serving as the Deputy Leader of the National Anti-Terrorism Work Leading Group in May 2018. In March 2021, he was promoted to Deputy Commander of the Rocket Force and Major General.
In March 2021, when Chen Guangjun was transferred from the Joint Staff Department to the Rocket Force and promoted to Deputy Commander with the rank of Major General, the concurrent role of military deputy leader of the counter-terrorism leadership group was passed on to Li Bin.
The article went on to analyze that before the eruption of the Rocket Force scandal, both Chen Guangjun and Liu Guangbin served as deputy commanders under Li Yuchao. While both later fell from grace, the initial sources who exposed the investigations into Liu Guangbin and Li Yuchao did not mention Chen Guangjun by name.
Political commentator Li Lin remarked that the appointment of two Rocket Force Major Generals as (military) deputy leaders within the National Counter-Terrorism Leadership Group raises questions about their covert relationship but leaves unclear why Xi Jinping chose to involve the Rocket Force. Moreover, the acknowledged corruption within the Rocket Force, coupled with the recent implication of Liu Yuejin, the former Public Security Bureau counter-terrorism commissioner, indicates that the counter-terrorism system has become a hotbed of corruption, albeit more discreetly. This unforeseen development may be a point of concern for the international community.