BEIJING (Caixin Online) — China’s military recently made a rare move regarding its fight against corruption, catching the public’s attention and sending a signal that the Communist Party’s crackdown on graft will continue.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recently took the unprecedented step of announcing that 16 current and former senior military officers are under investigation or awaiting trial. The announcement shocked many and is being interpreted as an indication that military leaders are determined to clean up a force with 2.3 million active service members.

The officers who were publicly named all held ranks at the corps level and higher. The most senior figures were Xu Caihou, the retired vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the PLA’s top policy-making body; Yang Jinshan, the former deputy commander of the Chengdu Military Region, in the southwest; and Yu Daqing, deputy political commissar of the Second Artillery Corps, which handles the country’s missile forces.

Altogether, one admiral, three lieutenant generals, 11 major generals and one colonel are under scrutiny. Fifteen of the disgraced officials were placed under investigation last year. The exception is Wang Mingui, former political commissar of the Air Defense Forces Command Academy in Zhengzhou, in the central province of Henan. The inquiry into Wang started in November 2013.

China’s military usually releases limited information about its probes of officers. The latest announcement made the cases of 10 officials public for the first time. These include Liu Zheng, former deputy head of the PLA’s General Logistics Department; Fan Changmi, former deputy political commissar of the Lanzhou Military Region, in the west; and Wei Jin, former deputy political commissar of the Tibet Military Region, which is also the west.

Although speculation about the officers has bubbled for a while, this is the first time the investigations have been officially confirmed. For this reason, the PLA’s announcement improves its transparency on matters related to corruption.

The sacked officials were involved in a range of departments and military regions and colleges. All were either military commanders or political heads, and most served as deputies.

Investigations into 11 of the officers started while they were on active duty, and some were newly promoted, including Liu Zheng, who was named deputy head of the General Logistics Department in December 2012. He got that job because the former deputy head, Gu Junshan, became the subject of a graft probe.

These cases are reflective of the PLA’s efforts to fight graft over the past year and its zero tolerance of the problem. However, they also indicate inadequate supervision of finances, property, official appointments and other key management areas.

Last year marked the 120th anniversary of the First Sino-Japanese War, known as the War of Jiawu in China, in which the Chinese army and navy was defeated. On various occasions to commemorate the anniversary, top leaders including party General Secretary Xi Jinping, who is also the nation’s president and chairman of the CMC, called on the PLA to reflect on the lessons of the war in order to maintain its ability in combat.

Liu Yazhou, political commissar of the PLA National Defense University in the capital, said earlier: “After 120 years, when corruption and a new type of rigidity again erode the country and the military, we are unable to say farewell to the War of Jiawu. Actually, we may disturbingly find ourselves under the shadow of the war.”

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