Former Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie Dies, Allegedly Criticized by Liu Yuan

Former CCP leader Hu Jintao was "escorted out" during the closing ceremony of the 20th National Congress. (Internet screenshot)

[November 12, 2024] On November 12, General Liang Guanglie, former State Councilor and Minister of National Defense, passed away in Beijing after a long illness. Liang, who was considered a close ally of former CCP leader Jiang Zemin, had been embroiled in corruption scandals throughout his life and was reportedly one of the three major generals criticized by Liu Yuan in the military.

The Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua reported on November 12 that Liang Guanglie, former member of the Central Military Commission, former State Councilor, and Minister of National Defense, passed away at 2:43 a.m. in Beijing at the age of 84.

Public records show that Liang spent most of his early career in the Chinese army, holding various positions such as Deputy Commander of the 20th Army, Commander of the 20th Group Army, and Commander of the 54th Group Army. From 1993, he served as the Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the Beijing Military Region, and later as the Commander of the Shenyang Military Region and the Nanjing Military Region. From 2002, Liang served as a member of the Central Military Commission, Chief of the General Staff, and Secretary of the General Staff Department’s Party Committee, as well as State Councilor and Minister of National Defense. He was promoted to General in May 2002.

The CCP’s military power had long been controlled by Jiang Zemin’s faction. Jiang, who held military power for more than 20 years starting in the 1990s, used economic incentives to buy off military generals, leading to widespread corruption in the military. During Hu Jintao’s tenure, Jiang continued to exert influence through his military representatives, such as Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, further entrenching corruption, bribery, and the selling of official positions.

Liang Guanglie was also seen as one of Jiang Zemin’s loyalists, executing Jiang’s policies in the military to oppose Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao. In 2007, Hu Jintao replaced Liang as Chief of the General Staff with Chen Bingde and appointed Liang as the Minister of National Defense. The position of Minister of National Defense is essentially a ceremonial post in the CCP’s system, as the military is controlled by the Party rather than the state. Liang retired in 2012.

The Frontline magazine reported that, prior to the 18th Party Congress, during an expanded meeting of the Central Military Commission, Liu Yuan, then Political Commissar of the General Logistics Department, publicly denounced military corruption and pointed fingers at three senior military figures—Guo Boxiong, Xu Caihou, and Liang Guanglie—blaming them for their significant responsibility in the corruption.

In recent years, Liang Guanglie and his family have been implicated in corruption scandals, with rumors of investigations. As early as 2010, there were reports online accusing Liang of selling military land at a steep discount for personal profit. Reports claimed that Liang sold military land in the “Imperial Fragrance Mountain” area of Beijing (a property owned by the General Staff Department) to developers at an extremely low price and changed the land’s zoning.

Additionally, Liang Guanglie’s two sons were known to be involved in various illicit activities within the military community, using Liang’s influence to broker “official position sales.” From 2002 to 2007, during Liang’s time as Chief of the General Staff, he allegedly sold over 7,000 acres of military land owned by the General Staff, generating tens of billions of RMB in illicit gains.

After the downfall of Xu Caihou, Liang Guanglie was also under investigation for an extended period but managed to avoid punishment by voluntarily returning stolen assets and pledging not to interfere in the military’s affairs.

In August 2018, several overseas media outlets citing sources close to the CCP’s military claimed that Yang Hui, then Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the Eastern Theater Command and former Director of the General Staff’s Second Department (military intelligence), was under investigation by the Military Commission’s Discipline Inspection Commission for “serious violations.” However, the official news never confirmed this. Reports indicated that Yang Hui had used intermediaries to connect with Liang Guanglie’s son, Liang Jun, bribing him with two villas and several million yuan in cash. Liang Guanglie reportedly appointed Yang Hui to the position of Director of the General Staff’s Second Department in 2007, without informing the then-Chief of the General Staff, Chen Bingde.

Furthermore, Liang Guanglie had close ties to Bo Xilai, the former CCP Secretary of Chongqing who was also ousted.

Since the 18th Party Congress, 160 generals in the military have been investigated, most of whom were aligned with Jiang Zemin’s faction. Seven generals have been investigated, including Xu Caihou, Guo Boxiong, former Director of the Central Military Commission’s Political Work Department Zhang Yang, former Chief of the Central Military Commission’s Joint Staff Department Fang Fenghui, former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Central Military Commission and former Commander of the Armed Police Wang Jianping, former Air Force Political Commissar Tian Xiusi, and former International University President Wang Xibin.

Since last year, in the ongoing purge of the CCP’s military, two former Defense Ministers, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, have also been investigated.

Editor: Lin Congwen