Top Chinese General probed for corruption

A top Chinese military officer who played a lead role in organising a massive parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the World War II last year, is facing a corruption probe, the latest in a string of graft investigations launched as part of President Xi Jinping's massive crackdown on corruption.
Major General Qu Rui, a deputy chief of the Combat Operations Department under the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) newly-established Joint Staff Department, was taken away by military graft-busters during a meeting on Wednesday, Hong Kong based South China Morning Post quoted Chinese military sources as saying.

Qu was a key organiser of the parade held in the capital in September last year to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory against Japan in the World War II in which the PLA demonstrated its top range weapons like long range ballistic missiles and new carrier aircraft.
He will face an internal corruption probe launched by the recently upgraded military disciplinary commission within the powerful Central Military Commission headed by President Jinping.
If confirmed, Qu's downfall would be the latest in a string of graft probes launched into the activities of senior officers in recent weeks ahead of the PLA's 89th founding anniversary scheduled to be celebrated tomorrow.

Earlier this month, General Tian Xiusi, 66, a former PLA Air Force political commissar and an ally of disgraced former military chiefs Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, was put under investigation for alleged corruption.

Guo, the highest military official to be probed, was sentenced to life this week by a military court for taking bribes.
Guo, who worked during previous President Hu Jintao regime was accused of accepting bribes for promotion of officers in the military.
Guo and Xu were snared in Xi's three-year-old anti-corruption campaign after it was extended to the military. Over 40 military officials faced investigations.
Critics allege that Xi made effective of the anti-graft campaign to consolidate his hold on the military and power structure of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC).

Xu, Hu's No 2 general, died of cancer last year aged 72 and never stood trial for graft.
Qu, a former deputy chief of the Combat Operation Department of the PLA's General Staff Headquarters, was appointed to his present job in January following a massive organisational overhaul.
He was a protege of retired general Ge Zhenfeng, a former deputy chief of general staff and a key member of the "northeast army" led by Xu, the Post report said.
It was not clear what prompted the investigation into Qu but sources said it was probably linked to his previous stint as head of a unit in charge of military equipment under the General Staff Headquarters No 5 department, which oversees information technology.

In addition to the anti-graft campaign, Xi has also spearheaded a major overhaul of the PLA and established 15 new units under the CMC, including the Joint Staff Department, last year.
In a move widely seen as consolidating his control over the military, Xi also launched a major reshuffle of the military's top brass and promoted dozens of officers to full general and major general over the past few years, the report said.
Yi Xiaoguang, a deputy chief of staff of the Joint Staff Department, and Zhu Fuxi, the Western Theatre Command's political commissar, were promoted to full general on Friday.