China Sentences Ex-Defence Ministers To Death

Former Chinese defence ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu have been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve over corruption charges, according to state media reports.

The former officials were purged in a broad, long-running anti-corruption crackdown ordered by President Xi Jinping after he came to power in 2012.

The military court said Wei, 72, was convicted of accepting bribes, while Li, 68, was convicted of both accepting and offering bribes, Xinhua reported.

The pair were also stripped of their political rights for life, as well as their personal property, Xinhua reported.

Wei served as defence minister from 2018 until 2023, and Li succeeded him but served for only a few months before disappearing from public view.

He was removed from office in October 2023, and the Communist Party expelled both men from its ranks in 2024.

The ex-ministers were also former members of China’s powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), which oversees the military and is headed by Mr Xi.

A death sentence ‌with reprieve in China is ⁠typically commuted to life imprisonment if the offender commits no crimes during the period of reprieve.

The court said that after commutation, there will not be any possibility of further commutation or parole, ⁠Xinhua reported.