Prior to the convening of China's 'Two Sessions' next week, the 21st meeting of the 14th NPC Standing Committee on the 26th revoked the qualifications of nine military delegates to the National People's Congress in one go, including five generals: former Navy Commander Shen Jinlong, former Navy Political Commissar Qin Shengxiang, former Air Force Political Commissar Yu Zhongfu, former Army Commander Li Qiaoming, and former Information Support Force Political Commissar Li Wei, as well as one lieutenant general and three major generals.
The meeting concluded in Beijing on the 26th, passing the disqualification of 19 NPC delegates in total, including nine representatives from the PLA. According to incomplete statistics, in a little over two years, about 36 military NPC delegates have already been stripped of their status, including 16 generals. As of the 26th, the official NPC website's 'List of Representatives' was updated to show there are currently 243 PLA NPC delegates.
Five generals lost their delegate qualifications: Li Wei and Li Qiaoming are members of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and both were absent from the Fourth Plenary Session in October last year. Shen Jinlong, Qin Shengxiang, and Yu Zhongfu are retired generals and not members of the 20th Central Committee, but all currently serve as NPC Standing Committee members. They have also missed several recent meetings of the NPC Standing Committee.
The demoted lieutenant general is Wang Donghai, Political Commissar of the Central Military Commission National Defense Mobilization Department; the three removed major generals are Bian Ruifeng, Assistant Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission; Ding Laifu, Commander of the Army's 73rd Group Army; and Yang Guang, Commander of the 64th Base of the Rocket Force.
Since 2023, a sweeping anti-corruption campaign has continued to shake the military high command, with CMC member Miao Hua and CMC Vice-Chairman He Weidong being arrested in succession. On January 24 this year, another CMC Vice-Chairman Zhang Youxia and CMC member Liu Zhenli were also officially announced as under investigation. The delegate status of Miao Hua, He Weidong and others was already revoked last year, while Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli have yet to be disqualified. At present, the CMC leadership team has dwindled from seven to two members, and there are now only four active duty generals remaining.