China sentenced two former defence ministers to death with a two-year reprieve on Thursday, marking an unprecedented escalation in President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign within the People's Liberation Army. Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, who held the nation's top military portfolio in succession, were convicted on graft charges in what analysts describe as the most severe punishment ever imposed on officials at this level of command.
According to state news agency Xinhua, both men received death sentences with reprieve—a penalty typically commuted to life imprisonment if the offender commits no crimes during a two-year supervision period. After commutation, they will be imprisoned for life without possibility of further commutation or parole. Death sentences at this level of military leadership are unprecedented in modern Chinese history, signaling Xi's zero-tolerance approach to corruption within the armed forces.
The armed forces have been a primary target of Xi's broad corruption crackdown since he took power in 2012. The purges reached the elite Rocket Force, which oversees nuclear weapons and conventional missiles, in 2023. Earlier this year, they escalated further with the removal of top general Zhang Youxia, a Politburo member long considered an ally of Xi.
Li Shangfu, who served as defence minister until his removal in 2023, was suspected of receiving "huge sums of money" in bribes and bribing others. An investigation found he and according to Xinhua. , who preceded as defence minister, was found to have accepted and His actions were deemed



