China Sentences Two Ex-Defence Ministers to Death

Former Chinese defence ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu have both been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on corruption charges, according to state media Xinhua. The two men, who served sequentially as China's top military officials, were expelled from the ruling Communist Party in 2024 for "serious violations of discipline," a term commonly used in China to describe corruption. The sentences mark a dramatic fall from grace for two of the country's highest-ranking military officials. Wei Fenghe served as defence minister from 2018 to 2023, while Li Shangfu held the position from 2023 until his removal in 2024. Under China's legal system, a death sentence with reprieve is typically commuted to life imprisonment if the offender commits no further crimes during the reprieve period, making the punishment effectively a life sentence in most cases. The convictions are the latest in a series of high-profile purges within China's military leadership as President Xi Jinping continues his sweeping anti-corruption campaign, which has targeted both serving and former officials across the People's Liberation Army.