Top general and Xi ally slams corruption in PLA

General Liu Yuan – an ally of president Xi Jinping who may be promoted to a senior military position soon – launched a fierce criticism against corruption in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in recent comments published by the Chinese military’s official mouthpiece.

Liu, political commissar of the military’s general logistics department, said in a speech published by the  that the “four practices [formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance] and corruption” have eroded the credibility of senior- and middle-ranking military officials, and has become the primary problem for the military to tackle.

He cited former deputy logistics chief Gu Junshan and former vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission Xu Caihou as the example of the corrupt officials in his speech.

New details emerged in April about a 2012 investigation into Gu, shedding light on the tremendous wealth he had amassed through corruption. Twenty paramilitary police officers spent two nights confiscating his possessions, including a gold statue of Mao Zedong, a gold wash basin, a model boat made of solid gold and dozens of crates of mao-tai liquor – enough to fill four trucks.

Liu Yuan was seen as the key player behind Gu Junshan’s downfall and initiated probes into the bribes Gu had received during his time as the army’s logistics deputy chief. The department is in charge of spending and the purchase of military goods, and has long been seen as a hotbed for corruption in the army.

Liu said fight against corruption was the military’s most pressing matter, and called for a campaign against existing and emerging corruption in the army.