A disgraced senior Chinese army officer is accused of selling hundreds of military positions, raking in millions of dollars, sources with ties to the leadership or military said, in what is likely China’s biggest military scandal in two decades.
Lieutenant General Gu Junshan (谷俊山), 57, who was sacked as deputy logistics chief of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in 2012, has been charged with corruption, taking bribes, misuse of public funds and abuse of power, Xinhua news agency said late on Monday in a brief report without giving details. He will be tried by a military court, it added.
The charges signal the determination of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), who has repeatedly reminded the PLA to be loyal to the Chinese Communist Party, to pursue wrongdoing in the upper ranks of the military, which wields considerable influence in leadership circles.
The case could overshadow what had been China’s most dramatic military scandal, a vast smuggling ring uncovered in the late 1990s in Xiamen involving both the military and government officials. The ringleader, Lai Changxing (賴昌星), was extradited from Canada and jailed for life in 2012.
Three sources with ties to the leadership or military, speaking on condition of anonymity, said one of the key crimes Gu is suspected of is selling promotions.
“Gu sold hundreds of positions,” one source with leadership and military ties said.
Not all officers of the 2.3 million-strong PLA promoted in recent years paid bribes.
However, “if a senior colonel [not in line for promotion] wanted to become a major general, he had to pay up to 30 million yuan [US$4.8 million],” the source said.
Lower ranking military positions were sold for hundreds of thousand of yuan, the sources said.
PLA officers who paid bribes to be promoted have been questioned, but the party leadership has not decided whether to demote, discharge or prosecute them because too many people were involved, they added.
The party expelled Gu from its ranks before he was indicted by military prosecutors, the sources said, though it was unclear exactly when this happened.
Gu has been under investigation for corruption since he was sacked in 2012. The sources said prosecution was delayed because he was “protected” by more powerful figures.
Sources said last month that Xu Caihou (徐才厚), 70, who retired as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission last year and from the party’s politburo in 2012, was under virtual house arrest while helping in the probe into Gu.
“Gu has implicated Xu Caihou” during questioning by investigators, a third source said.
The party leadership faces a dilemma over whether to prosecute Xu, who is undergoing treatment for bladder cancer, sources said.
A commentary issued yesterday in the official PLA Daily said Gu’s trial would probably be held behind closed doors as it would involve state secrets, though the verdict would be announced. It implied he would be dealt with severely.
Meanwhile, inspectors have uncovered widespread irregularities and suspected corruption among military units based around Beijing, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
The ministry said in a statement that the inspections in the Beijing and Jinan Military Regions were carried out directly under the authority of the Central Military Commission.
Additional reporting by AP
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