1st LD-Writethru: China expels 9 senior officials, former officials from CPC, military

BEIJING, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese defense spokesperson on Friday said that He Weidong, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and Miao Hua, a CMC member, have been expelled from the CPC and military service.

Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, said that seven former senior military officials have also been expelled from the CPC and military.

Approved by the CPC Central Committee and the CMC, the CMC's disciplinary and supervisory authority launched investigations into the nine individuals, according to Zhang.

The investigations found that the individuals had seriously violated Party discipline and are suspected of major duty-related crimes. Their violations involved exceptionally large amounts of money, and are of extremely serious nature and with extremely negative impacts, the spokesperson said.

The cases related to their suspected crimes will be transferred to military prosecution authorities for legal review and prosecution, Zhang said.

Of the nine individuals, actions to expel eight from the CPC will be confirmed by the CPC Central Committee when it convenes a plenary session, Zhang said. Enditem