China’s Top Legislature Kicks Off Annual Meetings Down by Two Dozen

Two dozen of the roughly 3,000 delegates who were elected to China’s top legislature last March have had their membership revoked over the past year, with some of the terminations announced before the start of annual political gatherings known as the “Two Sessions.”

The 24 people who have left the legislature include ousted foreign minister Qin Gang, 10 former senior military officials — half of whom were involved with the country’s rocket force, as well as a number of disgraced local government officials and several company executives, data compiled by Caixin showed.

Reasons for removal varied, as they included resignations, dismissals and deaths.

In the meantime, seven members of the country’s top political consultative body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), will also be absent from this year’s Two Sessions. The list includes four dismissed arms and aerospace executives, as well as noted epidemiologist Wu Zunyou, who died in October.

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) announced 11 of the terminations during a meeting last week, including that of Qin. Qin was removed as foreign minister in July. He lost his role as state councilor in October.

The others included government and party officials from Hunan, Heilongjiang, Guizhou and Guangdong provinces who had fallen under graft probes.

In addition to the nine senior military officers who were ousted from the NPC in December for suspected “serious violations of discipline and law,” Li Zhizhong, a lieutenant general who was deputy commander of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Central Theater Command, was dismissed from the legislature last week. No reasons were specified.

At least five of the 10 had been part of the military equipment development departments and at least half previously held positions in the PLA Rocket Force, which is believed to be one of the world’s largest missile forces and a key part of China’s nuclear deterrence strategy.

In addition, the CPPCC revoked the membership of four arms and aerospace executives and officials in announcements made in December and January, the latest being a former president of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.

These announcements came after former defense minister Li Shangfu was expelled in October. The veteran space industry expert had served as head of the party’s Central Military Commission equipment development department and was commander of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

Qin and Li remain members of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the party’s top decision-making body.

The annual meetings of the NPC and CPPCC are taking place this week in Beijing.

Han Wei contributed to this article.

Contact reporter Kelly Wang (jingzhewang@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)

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