Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun Under Investigation For Corruption

Dong Jun, the Chinese defence minister, has been under investigation due to suspicions of corruption. Dong’s investigation is part of widespread probes into corrupt practices in the Chinese military.

Corruption in the Chinese Military

China’s military has faced corruption allegations since last year, with at least nine People’s Liberation Army (PLA) generals and several defence industry executives removed from the national legislative body in recent times.

Dong would be the third Chinese defence minister in a row to fall under investigation for corruption. Dong’s predecessor, Li Shangfu, was removed after seven months into the job, and then expelled from the Communist Party, for offences including bribery. Li’s predecessor, Wei Fenghe, was also kicked out of the Communist Party and passed on to prosecutors for alleged corruption.

Since the probe started, at least two other high-ranking officers connected to the Rocket Force, a relatively new unit of the Chinese military, have also been removed for corruption.

Speaking on the deepening probe, Dylan Loh, an assistant professor at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, told AFP.

“It’s certainly a blow… because one would imagine they will be super careful to have someone very clean in this role,”

“Graft probes are very commonly targeted at the military because of the long historical ties between the business world and the PLA,” he concluded.

Reasons For Deepening Military Probe

The deepening probe of the military in recent times is part of President Xi Jinping’s plans to stamp out corruption in the Chinese military and strengthen its “war-preparedness”.

The country’s secretive Rocket Force — which oversees China’s vast arsenal of strategic missiles, both conventional and nuclear — has come under particularly intense scrutiny.

The anti-graft drive in the army has been partially driven by fears that it may affect China’s ability to wage a future war especially in the face of global tensions.

The Role of The Chinese Defence Minister

The defence minister in China is not the most powerful military figure in the Chinese system. The Chinese Military is headed by the vice-chairs of the Central Military Commission while the defence minister serves as the international face of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

 

 

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