On November 12, 2024, news broke in China that General Liang Guanglie, former State Councilor and Minister of National Defense of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), passed away in Beijing. Liang Guanglie, known as a close ally of former CCP leader Jiang Zemin, was plagued by corruption scandals during his lifetime and was reportedly one of the three military giants criticized by Liu Yuan.
According to the official Xinhua News Agency, Liang Guanglie, a former member of the Central Military Commission and Minister of National Defense, passed away in Beijing at the age of 84 on November 12 at 2:43 am.
Public records show that Liang Guanglie served in various positions within the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, including Deputy Commander of the 20th Army, Commander of the 20th Group Army, and Commander of the 54th Group Army. He held positions such as Chief of Staff of the Beijing Military Region, Deputy Commander of the Beijing Military Region, Commander of the Shenyang Military Region, and Commander of the Nanjing Military Region starting in 1993. From 2002 onwards, Liang Guanglie served as a member of the Central Military Commission, Chief of the General Staff of the PLA, and Secretary of the General Staff Department of the PLA. He was promoted to the rank of General in May 2002.
The military power in the CCP has long been controlled by the Jiang Zemin faction. Jiang Zemin, who held power for over twenty years, initiated a period of severe corruption within the military by using economic means to influence military leaders starting from the 1990s. During Hu Jintao’s leadership, Jiang Zemin, through his military representatives, Vice Chairman of the CMC Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, sidelined Hu Jintao, leading to rampant corruption and nepotism.
Liang Guanglie was also considered one of Jiang Zemin’s trusted aides, carrying out Jiang’s policies in the military to counter Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao. In 2007, Hu Jintao replaced Liang Guanglie as Chief of the General Staff with Chen Bingde and appointed Liang Guanglie as Minister of National Defense. Due to the CCP’s military under party control, the position of National Defense Minister is symbolic within the system. Liang Guanglie retired in 2012.
“Frontline” magazine revealed that during an expanded meeting of the Military Commission before the 18th National Congress of the CCP, Liu Yuan, then Political Commissar of the General Logistics Department, openly criticized the severe corruption within the military, pointing directly at Guo Boxiong, Xu Caihou, and Liang Guanglie, asserting their inescapable responsibility.
In recent years, corruption scandals involving Liang Guanglie and his family have come to light, sparking continuous investigations. As early as 2010, reports surfaced online accusing Liang Guanglie of selling military land for personal profit. It was alleged that Liang sold the land of the “Beijing Yuxiangshan” villa (used by the General Staff Department) to developers at significantly low prices and changed the land’s designated purpose.
Furthermore, Liang Guanglie’s two sons engaged in typical corrupt practices within the military circles, utilizing their father’s influence to engage in corrupt practices. During Liang’s tenure as Chief of the General Staff from 2002 to 2007, he reportedly sold over 7,000 acres of land belonging to various units under the General Staff Department, amassing billions of RMB in illicit gains.
Following Xu Caihou’s downfall, Liang Guanglie faced prolonged investigations but managed to evade severe consequences by voluntarily returning the stolen assets and pledging to refrain from interfering in the CCP’s military affairs.
In August 2018, multiple overseas media outlets reported that Lieutenant General Yang Hui, Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the Eastern Theater Command, and former Director of the General Staff Department Second Bureau, was under investigation by the Military Commission Discipline Inspection Commission for “serious violations.” It was alleged that Yang Hui bribed Liang Guanglie’s son, Liang Jun, with two villas and millions of RMB. After Liang Guanglie was appointed a member of the Central Military Commission in 2007, he directly appointed Yang Hui as the Director of the Second Bureau, unbeknownst to Chief of the General Staff Chen Bingde.
Furthermore, Liang Guanglie had close ties with the disgraced former CCP Secretary of Chongqing, Bo Xilai.
Since the 18th National Congress of the CCP, around 160 generals within the military have been investigated, many of whom were associated with the Jiang Zemin faction. This purge included seven generals, such as Xu Caihou, Guo Boxiong, former Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission Zhang Yang, former Chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission Fang Fenghui, former Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission and former Commander of the Armed Police Force Wang Jianping, former Air Force Commissar Tian Xiusi, and former President of the National University Wang Xibin.
In the ongoing military crackdown within the CCP since last year, two former Ministers of National Defense, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, have also been investigated.