The Chinese Communist Party is gearing up for the grand military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan in 2025, showcasing the strength of the PLA.
The military parade is a highly anticipated event where many Chinese Communist generals have “shined on stage,” gaining widespread popularity, but ultimately ending tragically.
Let’s take a look at the seven Chinese Communist generals who fell after the military parades.
On October 1, 2009, the most prominent figure at the Tiananmen Square parade celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Communist “National Day” was Fang Fenghui, the chief commander of the parade.
Fang Fenghui, who was 56 at the time, became the youngest among the seven military region commanders when he was appointed as the commander of the Beijing Military Region in 2007. In July 2010, he was promoted to the rank of general and later became the Chief of the General Staff in 2012. However, in August 2017, just two months before the 19th National Congress, Fang Fenghui was replaced as the Chief of the General Staff. In January 2018, he was officially announced to have fallen from grace and was expelled from the party and the military in October of the same year.
Fang Fenghui was later sentenced to life imprisonment for bribery, corruption, and unclear sources of massive wealth on February 19, 2019.
In 2015, during the military parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Qu Rui served as the deputy director of the leading group for the parade. Tragically, he was reported to have committed suicide while under investigation by the military discipline inspection commission.
There were speculations regarding the cases of Qu Rui, with some linking it to his involvement in overseeing military equipment in the General Staff Department.
Li Yuchao, who served as the Commander of the Rocket Force, participated in two military parades in 2009 and 2015, but was later removed from his position due to serious disciplinary violations.
Li Yuchao was the third Rocket Force Commander to be investigated after Wei Fenghe and Zhou Yaning.
Li Hanjun, a former Chief of Staff of the Navy, also participated in two military parades, but his career ended abruptly due to serious violations of discipline and laws.
Lin Xiangyang, the Commander of the Eastern Theater Command, took part in two military parades but was later arrested in 2025 for reasons related to other high-ranking military officials’ cases.
Wu Guohua, a former Deputy Commander of the Rocket Force, participated in the military parade in 2015 and retired in 2020. He passed away in 2023 under suspicious circumstances related to a major Rocket Force case.
Deng Zhiping, a former Deputy Chief of Staff of the 14th Army Group, also faced disciplinary measures after the 2015 military parade.
Under Xi Jinping’s leadership, numerous high-ranking military officials, including Li Shangfu, Miao Hua, and He Weidong, faced investigations and likely will not attend the upcoming military parade despite the grand atmosphere.
The purge of military officials post the 20th Party Congress indicates a significant cleansing within the PLA, with Xi Jinping being directly involved in the selection and removal of numerous generals.
The ongoing cleansing of high-ranking military officials following the revelations of multiple cases highlights Xi’s commitment to maintaining discipline within the armed forces.
The strength of the Chinese Communist military remains in question as the subsequent removal of high-ranking officers continues.