China’s leaders on Thursday accused two former defense ministers of accepting “huge” bribes and other corrupt practices, illegally seeking personnel benefits for others and undermining the country’s military equipment construction.

The Communist Party’s Politburo, a group of 24 senior officials, issued two bulletins charging Gen. Li Shangfu, who served as defense minister for much of last year, and Gen. Wei Fenghe, who served as defense minister from 2018 to 2023, with multiple crimes and disciplinary violations. The bulletins suggest more people may be brought down in the expanding investigation.

Speculation that China’s leader, Xi Jinping, had begun investigating military corruption and misconduct began last year after senior officers in the People’s Liberation Army’s Rocket Force were suddenly replaced or disappeared. The rumors were fueled by the removal of Li Shangfu as defense minister in October after months of disappearing from public view. But only now have Chinese leaders revealed the range of allegations that underlie the investigation.

About Li ShangfuannouncementIt said he was found to have used his position to seek benefits for others and accepted huge sums of money, in addition to bribing others and trying to obstruct the investigation into him.announcementSimilar allegations were made and it was stated that he had been bribed with valuable gifts and money.

Both were stripped of their military ranks and expelled from the party, and their cases were sent to military prosecutors, meaning they will almost inevitably be tried, found guilty and sentenced to heavy prison terms, or even death if their crimes are particularly serious. The announcements also implied that their misdeeds amounted to a betrayal of Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission and leader of the party.

The two were both former members of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China. The announcement said that Li Shangfu “abandoned his original mission and lost his party spirit and principles, and his behavior failed the trust of the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission.” Wei Fenghe was also accused of “collapse of faith” in the party.

The announcements could trigger a broader investigation that could at least temporarily slow China’s rapid military modernization. The announcement said investigators were following more leads and that Li Shangfu’s corruption had “seriously polluted” the military equipment sector.Political ecology and industry trendsBefore being named defense secretary, he rose through the ranks as an expert on military hardware, an area that has seen decades of rising spending.

“These announcements seem to point to something very serious,” Yang Nien-tsu, a Chinese military expert who previously served in Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, said in a telephone interview.

He believes the two generals had obstructed investigators and the announcement that they had lost confidence in the party would be particularly troubling for Xi because the details could indicate broader discontent or insubordination among the top brass of the People’s Liberation Army.

“I think what we’ll see next is them conducting a comprehensive investigation of the military, not just the Rocket Force, but other departments as well,” Yang said of the Chinese military.

Earlier this month, Mr. Xi stressed his determination to root out misconduct and perceived disloyalty in China’s military when he met with commanders in Yan’an, an official Red Shrine in northwest China where Mao Zedong assembled his troops during the revolution and the war against Japan.

Xi Jinping convened a similar “political work” meeting for the military in 2014 as he was rooting out corruption that had been prevalent in previous decades, including the buying and selling of promotions.

But obviously, the problem still exists. This time in Yan’an, Xi Jinping advocated using the spirit of Mao Zedong’s army as an inspiration and warning.

“Senior military officials should bear in mind their original aspirations and missions and take the lead in promoting the Yan’an spirit,” according to the three-day meeting.Official Minutes“We must ensure that the people’s army always maintains its nature and purpose, and always dares to fight and win,” Xi said.

The military is crucial to Xi’s political power and his vision of making China a resurgent global power.

Domestically, the People’s Liberation Army is the backbone of Communist Party rule and has sworn absolute loyalty to Xi. Externally, the military is key to Xi’s efforts to exert influence in the Asia-Pacific region and undermine U.S. dominance. It is also crucial to efforts to incorporate Taiwan into China — Beijing claims the democratic island about 100 miles off the mainland coast as its territory.

But Taiwanese military expert Yang Nien-tsu said the resignation of the two former defense ministers showed that Xi’s ability to select and promote suitable commanders may have been questioned within the People’s Liberation Army.

Li Shangfu, 66, a former engineer who rose through the ranks in rocket, weapons development and China’s manned space program, was the first deputy commander of the Strategic Support Force, which Xi created in late 2015 as part of a restructuring of the Chinese military. In April, Xi split the force into three separate units.

Wei Fenghe, 70, is the first commander of the Rocket Force, which houses most of China’s nuclear weapons and thousands of conventional missiles. Xi created the Rocket Force in late 2015 by upgrading the Second Artillery Corps.

“How can he say he picked the right people for the right jobs when he promoted them all?” Mr. Yang said, adding that he did not foresee major disruptions to China’s plans to build more warships, aircraft and missiles.

“Xi Jinping’s goal is to build the most effective military,” Mr. Yang said. “That will not change.”