Top Chinese military official under investigation, ministry says

China said on Thursday a top-ranking military official had been suspended and was under investigation for “serious violations of discipline,” and denied reports Defense Minister Dong Jun was being investigated for corruption.

The suspended officer, Admiral Miao Hua, served on the ruling Central Military Commission, China’s highest-level military body, and was stationed in the coastal province of Fujian when President Xi Jinping worked there as a local official, according to his official biography.

Miao, who began his career in the army, has been the military’s leading political officer.

A defense ministry spokesperson, Wu Qian, who briefed reporters at a monthly press conference in Beijing, provided no further details.

China’s military has undergone a sweeping anti-corruption purge since last year, with at least nine People’s Liberation Army generals and a handful of defense industry executives removed from the national legislative body.

Wu said media reports that Dong had been sidelined by an investigation were “sheer fabrication” spread by rumor-mongers with evil motivations.

The Financial Times reported this week that Dong was being investigated as part of the wide-ranging anti-corruption investigation, citing current and former U.S. officials.

Two U.S. officials told Reuters they believed Dong was being investigated for corruption. Another urged caution about that conclusion.

Dong last had declined last week to meet U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a meeting of defense ministers in Laos, citing U.S. actions over Taiwan, a move the Pentagon chief said on Wednesday was unfortunate.

Asked about the decision not to meet Austin, Wu cited Dong by name as saying the United States had been “seriously undermining regional peace and stability.”

Dong was appointed defense minister in December 2023, replacing Li Shangfu, who was removed after seven months.

Li and his predecessor, Wei Fenghe, were expelled from the Communist Party in June for “serious violations of discipline”, a euphemism for corruption.

The latest Pentagon report on China’s military, issued in October 2023, said Miao “may have ties” to Xi from his time in Fujian.