China Sentences Two Former Defense Ministers to Death

A Chinese military court has handed suspended death sentences to former defense ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu for severe corruption, stipulating they face life in prison without the possibility of parole after a two-year reprieve. The state news agency Xinhua reported that authorities confiscated all their personal property and permanently revoked their political rights, marking the heaviest penalties issued to senior military officers since President Xi Jinping launched his anti-corruption campaign in 2012. Furthermore, this sweeping crackdown has triggered an unprecedented purge within China's Central Military Commission, leaving only one uniformed official from the original 2022 leadership intact.