PLA (strategic) news, pics, and videos

[00CuriousObserver]

4 more generals expelled:

People’s Armed Police commander Wang Chunning (王春宁); rocket force disciplinary chief Wang Zhibin (汪志斌); Zhang Lin (张林), head of the Logistics Support Department under the Central Military Commission; and Gao Daguang (高大光), political commissar of the CMC’s Joint Logistics Support Force.

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[00CuriousObserver]

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China’s rocket force bans nearly 200 suppliers, evaluators after corruption investigation

Partnerships terminated as investigators find cases of errors, collusive bidding and forgery dating back to 2016

The People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force has terminated nearly 200 partnerships with experts and suppliers, following an investigation into procurement corruption covering the past nine years, as scrutiny of the troubled military branch continues.

The official China Government Procurement News reported on Tuesday that between August 28 and September 1, the rocket force made announcements on the military procurement network, banning 74 bid evaluation experts and 116 suppliers.

Some suppliers and experts were banned from rocket force procurement projects, while others were stripped of qualifications that had entitled them to bid for projects across the entire PLA.

According to the report, the earliest violation identified was in 2016, when an expert was disqualified from bidding in procurement tenders because of “errors in the project review”.

The rocket force was established in December 2015 as part of President Xi Jinping’s military reforms. The branch oversees some of the PLA’s most important assets, including China’s strategic nuclear missiles.

The PLA’s intensive review of the military equipment procurement sector began after the downfall of former defence minister Li Shangfu in 2023, with a series of corruption investigations.

Li, who worked for decades in the PLA’s equipment department, was criticised by Beijing for “seriously polluting the political environment of the military equipment sector”.

The rocket force and the equipment procurement department have become the main targets of the Communist Party’s anti-corruption drive, with successive investigations into senior officials from the PLA and the defence industry.

Among them have been three rocket force commanders: Li Yuchao, Zhou Yaning, and Wei Fenghe. The latter served as defence minister from 2018 to 2023.

In July 2023, the equipment development department of the Central Military Commission – the top military leadership body chaired by Xi Jinping – called on the public to report violations in the bidding and review process.

The notice asked for information dating back to October 2017 – one month after Li became head of the equipment development department.

According to the report, most of the experts named on the PLA’s official procurement site were punished for “evaluation errors that affected review results”.

However, one expert, identified as Xu Yuanzhao, was singled out and criticised in the report as a “broker”, which refers to an intermediary who neither owns the product nor controls its price or sales terms, instead acting as a go-between.

The report noted that experts were supposed to remain objective and neutral when making their evaluations. Becoming a “broker” would have a severely negative impact on procurement orders, it said.

In addition to the permanent ban on Xu from reviewing military procurement projects, any companies that he held shares in or managed were also prohibited from taking part in any such activities.

Two other experts were cited for “biased scoring in bidding”, while another was banned for “forging credentials”. Most suppliers were penalised for “collusive bidding” and “submitting false materials”, the report said.

Among the suppliers were some central state-owned enterprises. The Beijing Engineering Bureau of China Communications Construction engaged in bid rigging in military procurement projects, according to the report.

The Class-A enterprise – which has undertaken Chinese aid construction projects in countries such as Cambodia and Equatorial Guinea – was suspended from taking part in rocket force procurement of materials and engineering services.

China Postal Express & Logistics, a subsidiary of China Post, was disqualified from procurement across the entire military for submitting false materials in bidding, according to the report.

Other PLA departments have issued similar statements on the military procurement website, with more than 5,000 enterprises disqualified for irregular transactions going back to 2015, including companies in the electronics, catering and pharmaceutical sectors.

Last year, three universities closely tied to the defence sector were banned from rocket force procurement for three years after being implicated in collusive bidding.

 

[Syrida2887]

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China’s rocket force bans nearly 200 suppliers, evaluators after corruption investigation

Partnerships terminated as investigators find cases of errors, collusive bidding and forgery dating back to 2016

The People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force has terminated nearly 200 partnerships with experts and suppliers, following an investigation into procurement corruption covering the past nine years, as scrutiny of the troubled military branch continues.

The official China Government Procurement News reported on Tuesday that between August 28 and September 1, the rocket force made announcements on the military procurement network, banning 74 bid evaluation experts and 116 suppliers.

Some suppliers and experts were banned from rocket force procurement projects, while others were stripped of qualifications that had entitled them to bid for projects across the entire PLA.

According to the report, the earliest violation identified was in 2016, when an expert was disqualified from bidding in procurement tenders because of “errors in the project review”.

The rocket force was established in December 2015 as part of President Xi Jinping’s military reforms. The branch oversees some of the PLA’s most important assets, including China’s strategic nuclear missiles.

The PLA’s intensive review of the military equipment procurement sector began after the downfall of former defence minister Li Shangfu in 2023, with a series of corruption investigations.

Li, who worked for decades in the PLA’s equipment department, was criticised by Beijing for “seriously polluting the political environment of the military equipment sector”.

The rocket force and the equipment procurement department have become the main targets of the Communist Party’s anti-corruption drive, with successive investigations into senior officials from the PLA and the defence industry.

Among them have been three rocket force commanders: Li Yuchao, Zhou Yaning, and Wei Fenghe. The latter served as defence minister from 2018 to 2023.

In July 2023, the equipment development department of the Central Military Commission – the top military leadership body chaired by Xi Jinping – called on the public to report violations in the bidding and review process.

The notice asked for information dating back to October 2017 – one month after Li became head of the equipment development department.

According to the report, most of the experts named on the PLA’s official procurement site were punished for “evaluation errors that affected review results”.

However, one expert, identified as Xu Yuanzhao, was singled out and criticised in the report as a “broker”, which refers to an intermediary who neither owns the product nor controls its price or sales terms, instead acting as a go-between.

The report noted that experts were supposed to remain objective and neutral when making their evaluations. Becoming a “broker” would have a severely negative impact on procurement orders, it said.

In addition to the permanent ban on Xu from reviewing military procurement projects, any companies that he held shares in or managed were also prohibited from taking part in any such activities.

Two other experts were cited for “biased scoring in bidding”, while another was banned for “forging credentials”. Most suppliers were penalised for “collusive bidding” and “submitting false materials”, the report said.

Among the suppliers were some central state-owned enterprises. The Beijing Engineering Bureau of China Communications Construction engaged in bid rigging in military procurement projects, according to the report.

The Class-A enterprise – which has undertaken Chinese aid construction projects in countries such as Cambodia and Equatorial Guinea – was suspended from taking part in rocket force procurement of materials and engineering services.

China Postal Express & Logistics, a subsidiary of China Post, was disqualified from procurement across the entire military for submitting false materials in bidding, according to the report.

Other PLA departments have issued similar statements on the military procurement website, with more than 5,000 enterprises disqualified for irregular transactions going back to 2015, including companies in the electronics, catering and pharmaceutical sectors.

Last year, three universities closely tied to the defence sector were banned from rocket force procurement for three years after being implicated in collusive bidding.

This has caused a great reaction within the PLA, especially considering the special role of the Rocket Army, and it also involves the joint logistics support force that was split only last year. There is no doubt that the investigation and attack on the internal problems of the army, which the president Xi began in 14 years, will continue to ensure the combat effectiveness of the army. Since the achievements of the army reform have proved effective, it is necessary to maintain the purity of the team in order to ensure the combat effectiveness for a long time, instead of letting corruption and political contributions lubricate the relationship between the army and enterprises.

 

[00CuriousObserver]

Update on the giant military complex, via @chrisschmitz

Not sure where they got the map (3rd picture)

 

[ACuriousPLAFan]

He Weidong has been confirmed to be removed from his PLA and CPC posts due to severe violation of rules and protocols, alongside 8 others.

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[ismellcopium]

He Weidong has been confirmed to be removed from his PLA and CPC posts due to severe violation of rules and protocols, alongside 8 others.

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I'll be honest, it's hard for me to understand why this sort of thing is still happening with such high pervasiveness & frequency when this outcome should be obvious as virtually an inevitability to anyone by this point. Is the pay for officers/officials of such rank particularly low that they'd commonly take such moronic risks? Is it often a matter of not perceiving the high risk, ie more minor/guanxi type acts that they didn't realize would not be tolerated (seems incompatible with severity portrayed & "very high sums")? Or why?

Even the MSM "political purge" theories can't really be entertained because even if Xi were Stalin-level paranoid I don't see him repeatedly purging his own personnel at these rates.

 

[gk1713]

I'll be honest, it's hard for me to understand why this sort of thing is still happening with such high pervasiveness & frequency when this outcome should be obvious as virtually an inevitability to anyone by this point. Is the pay for officers/officials of such rank particularly low that they'd commonly take such moronic risks? Is it often a matter of not perceiving the high risk, ie more minor/guanxi type acts that they didn't realize would not be tolerated (seems incompatible with severity portrayed & "very high sums")? Or why?

Even the MSM "political purge" theories can't really be entertained because even if Xi were Stalin-level paranoid I don't see him repeatedly purging his own personnel at these rates.

They are investigated for months to years, such statement is just a confirm as The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is next week

 

[Dante80]

I'll be honest, it's hard for me to understand why this sort of thing is still happening

Because corruption, grift and incompetence is endemic in the military and military industrial complex apparatuses of all nations. China is not a special snowflake on this one. Far from it. China's shit don't smell better.

There are two pretty big distinctions though.

1. In China, you will not get actual details and specifics about said corruption. grift or incompetence. The flow of information is strictly controlled by the state, and even when you do have something leak out, the state actively tries to suppress, misdirect or discredit for national security purposes. You won't get in China the equivalent of a deep dive investigative journalist crew like

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, for example. It is what it is.

2. In China, corruption, grift or incompetence actually result in material consequences for those involved. Sooner, or later. And heads roll, instead of getting rewarded for their crimes against the people.

 

[HighGround]

2. In China, corruption, grift or incompetence actually result in material consequences for those involved. Sooner, or later. And heads roll, instead of getting rewarded for their crimes against the people.

But how can you know when we will never know the details of such investigations?

Even if PLA performs really well, we will never really know whether the investigation was due to corruption or some other reason. You're basically relying on the good faith of the party apparatus.

Either way, it is a notable failure that such a high-ranking command officer was involved in corruption to begin with. Low-level grift will always exist on some level, but high-level grift like this can cripple.

 

[Dante80]

But how can you know when we will never know the details of such investigations?

Even if PLA performs really well, we will never really know whether the investigation was due to corruption or some other reason. You're basically relying on the good faith of the party apparatus.

Either way, it is a notable failure that such a high-ranking command officer was involved in corruption to begin with. Low-level grift will always exist on some level, but high-level grift like this can cripple.

Coming forward with news like this one is considered a priori damaging to the state and the party. This means the news had to come out.

I understand the possible Kremlinology take, but at the end of the day it is far easier and more straightforward to simply call a spade a spade.

Even a faintly defined one.