Two former Chinese defence ministers, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, were sentenced to death on Thursday on charges of corruption. However, a two-year reprieve has been granted alongside this sentence. These sentences were handed down separately by a Chinese military court.
Both Wei and Li were former members of the Central Military Commission, as well as former State Councilors.
According to the court verdicts, Wei was found guilty of the crime of accepting bribes, while Li was convicted of both accepting and offering bribes. Their political rights have also been stripped for life, and all their personal assets are to be confiscated.
The court rulings state that upon the expiration of the two-year reprieve period—and after their sentences are commuted to life imprisonment in accordance with the law—they will not be granted any further sentence reductions or parole.
Wei Fenghe served as China’s Defence Minister from 2018 to 2023. In March 2023, he was succeeded by Li Shangfu.
In China, a death sentence accompanied by a two-year reprieve is typically commuted to life imprisonment, provided the convict commits no further crimes during the reprieve period.Subsequently, the individual must spend the remainder of their life in prison, with no possibility of sentence reduction or parole.
Li Shangfu’s tenure as Defence Minister was relatively brief. He was removed from his post in October 2023. This event occurred two months after his sudden disappearance from public life, which had fueled intense speculation regarding his removal.
In February, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a publicly unexpected reference to military operations, noting that the country’s top general, Zhang Youxia, had also recently been removed.
At the time, President Xi stated that “revolutionary changes have been brought about in the fight against corruption” within the military.
Since coming to power, Xi Jinping has spearheaded an anti-corruption campaign. However, critics argue that this campaign has also been used as an instrument to purge political rivals.
