General facing bribe claims kills himself

One of China’s top generals has hanged himself at home after learning he was under investigation for corruption.

Zhang Yang in March. Picture: AP

One of China’s top generals has hanged himself at home after learning he was under investigation for corruption.

Zhang Yang, 66, killed himself last Thursday, official media ­announced yesterday.

He had been placed under ­investigation in late August on ­suspicion of bribery, having a large amount of property he could not account for and other acts that “seriously violated” laws and regulations.

“This formerly powerful, high-ranking general used this despicable manner to end his life,” the official PLA Daily newspaper said. “Zhang Yang used suicide to evade the punishment of the party regulations and state law, an act of great odiousness.”

The People Liberation Army’s website added: “He lost his faith in the party and its principles, he lost his respect for the law, and the bottom line was that he lost his lost his morality.”

It said he was “two-faced” and had stained the image of the PLA and China’s Communist Party.

Investigators closed in on General Zhang — one of 11 ­members of the Central Military Commission, the highest command structure of China’s armed forces — using evidence given by two other former top generals, Xu Caihou and Guo Boxiong, who had earlier become high-profile targets of President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign.

The pair were the vice-chairmen of the CMC, which is chaired by Mr Xi.

General Guo has been jailed for life, while General Xu died of cancer before his trial.

General Zhang understood clearly where the investigation would lead — to a long, or life, sentence in jail. He was the director of the political department of the PLA, and thus the senior party member serving in the army.

General Zhang’s fate served notice that Mr Xi has no intention of taking his foot off the pedal of the purges of those perceived as disloyal, politically unreliable or financially corrupt.

The five-yearly party congress in October considerably elevated Mr Xi’s authority for his second term.

Although he has removed all serious rivals, he is expanding his “disciplinary” campaign beyond the party to cover all government and state-owned enterprise officials via the newly established Supervisory Commission.

Mr Xi has radically restructured the PLA, which is the army of the party, not the Chinese state. This has involved removing ­almost the entire top echelon of officers and replacing them with men he has endorsed.

The government has no ­authority to review the PLA’s budget, the media is not permitted to ­report on the PLA without ­permission, and the courts have no authority over military ­personnel.

The army answers primarily to the CMC, and through that body to the central committee of the party.

General Zhang and General Feng Fenghui learned they were in trouble when they were ­removed from the 303 PLA ­delegates to last month’s party ­congress. General Feng remains under investigation.

Additional reporting: AP