Chinese general reported to be facing corruption probe off military delegation to party congress

by Jun Mai in South China Morning Post, Sept 6, 2017
Two top generals who sit on China’s Central Military Commission have been left out of a military delegation attending next month’s Communist Party congress.
The move comes after media reports have suggested that one of the officers, Fang Fenghui, has been questioned on suspicion of corruption.
Fang, who was a former chief at the Joint Staff Department in China’s military, was questioned about “economic problems”, the Reuters news agency reported on Monday, citing three unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
Fang was replaced at the Joint Staff Department last month.
He played host to the US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Joseph Dunford, in China in August, but there has been no mention of him in state media since he was replaced by General Li Zuocheng.
Overseas media had previously speculated he might be in line for promotion to be the commission’s vice-chairman.
Another surprise omission from the list of delegates published by the People’s Liberation Army Daily on Wednesday is the director of the political work department, General Zhang Yang. He also sits on the military commission.
Failure to attend the congress, which starts on October 18, suggests the pair are almost certain to be excluded from sitting on the commission after a reshuffle among the leadership at the five-yearly event
Fang, 66, is the fourth ranking officer in the powerful military commission.
He was a member of President Xi Jinping’s entourage when he met Donald Trump in Florida this April. Fang was pictured sitting next to Trump’s daughter Ivanka at a banquet.
Zhang is the sixth ranking member of the 11-strong military commission.
Fang and Zhang are the only two sitting members not on the congress military delegation list.
Outgoing members of the commission usually join the party congress delegation, as was the case five years ago for Fang and Zhang’s predecessors.
Admiral Wu Shengli, who retired earlier this year from the post of the navy’s top commander, still sits on the military commission and is among the delegation attending the Communist Party congress.http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2109959/chinese-general-reported-be-facing-corruption-probe