In less than 2 years, 14 of China’s military lawmakers have been ousted

Growing number of dismissals reflects ‘steadily intensifying efforts’ to address corruption, according to analyst

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China’s top legislature has about 3,000 members, including 267 from the military. Photo: AP

Published: 4:00pm, 5 Jan 2025

PLA deputies have been dismissed from the current term of China’s top legislature at a rate not seen for at least four decades, according to public records going back to 1983, amid a campaign to root out corruption in the world’s largest standing military.

Some 14 military lawmakers have been removed from the National People’s Congress since the current term of the NPC began in March 2023, a tally by the South China Morning Post has found.

That is far more than the total for each of the previous two terms. Seven People’s Liberation Army deputies lost their seats as lawmakers in the last five-year term and eight military deputies were dismissed in the term before that, according to public records.

Now, the top legislature has 267 members from the PLA and the People’s Armed Police Force – down from the 281 deputies elected to the 14th NPC. The legislature has about 3,000 members.

These dismissals are widely believed to be linked to President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption drive, which has been under way for over a decade. And they go some way to shedding light on the campaign within the military, whose graft-busters tend to release few if any details of their investigations.

In Xi’s first term, more top brass – including two former vice-chairmen of the Central Military Commission in charge of the armed forces – were caught in the anti-corruption net after they stepped down.