China expels two top generals from party, military

Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli accused of disloyalty, corruption

BEIJING:

China has expelled two top military leaders, Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, from the Communist Party and the military, an official announcement showed on Monday, citing alleged disloyalty, corruption and other serious disciplinary breaches.

Zhang was second-in-command under President Xi Jinping as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission - the supreme command body - and has long been seen as Xi's closest military ally. Liu was a CMC member and the chief of staff of its Joint Staff Department.

Probes into Zhang and Liu were announced in January, with the pair removed from the state Central Military Commission in late August.

Since coming to power in 2012, Xi has unleashed one of the most sweeping corruption and discipline crackdowns in modern Chinese history. Millions within China's vast bureaucracy have been investigated to varying degrees, with scores of senior party, government and military officials ensnared and purged.

The military has increasingly been one of the main targets of this broader campaign in recent years. A string of investigations and expulsions have left just two active figures on the formerly seven-member CMC, including Xi himself, who serves as chair.

The Chinese leadership accused the two former military leaders of being disloyal to the party, forsaking the party's principles, failing to enforce strict party discipline or to supervise staff and family members.

Zhang and Liu "seriously violated political discipline and political rules, formed cliques and factions, and were disloyal and dishonest to the party," state-run Xinhua news agency cited official documents as

saying.