Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli expelled from CPC, military for serious discipline, law violations

BEIJING, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli have been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and military service for serious discipline and law violations, according to a decision made at a CPC leadership meeting held on Monday.

Zhang served as a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), while Liu served as a CMC member and chief of staff of the CMC Joint Staff Department.

A meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee approved the CMC's reports on the handling of Zhang and Liu's cases after deliberation.

With approval from the CPC Central Committee and the CMC, the CMC's disciplinary and supervisory authority launched investigations into their cases.

The investigations found that Zhang and Liu formed self-serving cliques, were disloyal and dishonest to the Party, took advantage of their positions to assist others in promotions and accepted a huge sum of bribes in return.

They also failed to fulfill the responsibility of exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance, said a statement released after the meeting.

They seriously violated Party discipline, were suspected of serious duty-related violations, and engaged in both corruption and dereliction of duties, it said, adding that their violations involved exceptionally large amounts of money, and were of extremely serious nature and with significantly negative impacts.

The cases related to their suspected crimes will be transferred to military prosecution authorities for legal review and prosecution in accordance with the law, according to the statement.

The decision to expel Zhang and Liu from the CPC awaits confirmation by the CPC Central Committee when it convenes a plenary session. Previously, the CMC had made a decision to expel Zhang and Liu from military service.

The statement noted the investigation and punishment of Zhang and Liu once again made it clear that no tolerance is shown for corruption, and that it represented a major achievement in the anti-corruption campaign waged by the Party and the military.

The people's military has become purer, more consolidated, with greater cohesion and combat effectiveness in the fight against corruption, the statement said.