BEIJING — China has suspended a high-ranking military official while he is being investigated, its Defense Ministry announced Thursday.
The official, Miao Hua, is director of the Political Work Department, on the powerful Central Military Commission that oversees the People’s Liberation Army.
Miao is under investigation for “serious violations of discipline,” said Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian.
Miao is one of five members of the body that oversees the world’s largest standing military, in addition to China’s leader Xi Jinping, who heads the commission.
The news of Miao being placed under investigation comes after the Financial Times reported that Defense Minister Dong Jun was under investigation and suspended.
The Defense Ministry spokesperson said Dong was not under any investigation and called the report a “sheer fabrication.”
Miao, by sitting on the commission that is a Communist Party committee, outranks Dong and anyone who holds the position of defense minister, as Communist Party positions are more powerful than government institutions in China.
This is the third recent major shakeup for China’s defense establishment. In June, China announced that former Defense Minister Li Shangfu and his predecessor Wei Fenghe were accused of corruption and expelled from the party. They were being investigated for corruption and bribery.
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This version has corrected the official’s name to Hua not Li.
