Miao Hua, a top general who once oversaw the People鈥檚 Liberation Army鈥檚 ideology work, has been removed from the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC).
State news agency Xinhua said the Standing Committee of the National People鈥檚 Congress 鈥渧oted to remove Miao Hua from his position as a member of the Central Military Commission鈥 at its closing meeting on Friday in Beijing.
The announcement about the high-profile military corruption investigation came two months after Miao, 69, was stripped of his membership in the National People鈥檚 Congress (NPC), the top legislature.
Also at the meeting, lawmakers voted to adopt a revised Law on Penalties for Administration of Public Security and a revised Law Against Unfair Competition, according to Xinhua.
Miao, the former political ideology chief of the world鈥檚 second-largest military, was put under investigation and suspended from his post in November.
Miao鈥檚 photo was removed from the senior leadership page of the Chinese defence ministry鈥檚 website at the end of May.
Miao鈥檚 downfall comes as President Xi Jinping continues to press ahead with his sweeping anti-corruption purge of China鈥檚 military, in which more than a dozen PLA generals and a handful of defence industry executives have been implicated.
Xi has repeatedly emphasised the importance of Communist Party loyalty among PLA leaders to strengthen ideological control and support China鈥檚 goal of becoming a military superpower.
Miao is the second CMC member to be removed from his position since the current leadership took office in 2022. The first was former defence minister Li Shangfu, who was dismissed in October 2023.
It is rare in Chinese politics to have such frequent purges in the top military command body.
He Weidong, the second-ranked vice-chairman of the CMC and one of the 24 members of the Communist Party鈥檚 Politburo, has also been out of the public eye since the March 11 closing ceremony of the annual parliamentary sessions in Beijing. Since then, he has not appeared at a series of high-level Politburo and military public engagements.
He is the third most powerful commander of the People鈥檚 Liberation Army and is considered a close associate of President Xi Jinping, the army鈥檚 commander-in-chief. His photo remains on the defence ministry鈥檚 website.
Miao joined the PLA at 14 and dedicated years to party work in Fujian province. His career advanced significantly after Xi assumed power, leading to roles in the Chinese navy as political commissar and eventually becoming the PLA鈥檚 youngest admiral.
He served as director of the CMC鈥檚 political work department and had been a CMC member since 2017.