China’s ‘Whole Aerospace System and the Whole Military-Industrial System Are Undergoing a Huge Purge’: Insiders

After military chiefs of the Rocket Force were removed for investigation, dozens in China's aerospace industry and arms industry have been arrested, according to insiders. In this picture, a Long March 7Y4 rocket carrying the Tianzhou 3 cargo ship launches from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in China's southern Hainan province, on a mission to deliver supplies to China's Tiangong space station on Sept. 20, 2021. STR/AFP via Getty Images

Following the arrest of top military officials from China’s Rocket Force, many key officials in linked sectors have also been arrested, according to sources close to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) top circle.

Yuan Hongbing, a former professor of law at Peking University who now lives in exile in Australia, learned from his connections in China that following the purge of the Rocket Force military leaders, the military research institutes, military industrial enterprises, strategic support forces, and military procurement departments are also undergoing a major overhaul.

“The whole aerospace system and the whole military-industrial system are undergoing a huge purge involving dozens of people,” Mr. Yuan told The Epoch Times on Sept. 21.

This is consistent with a revelation posted on X, formerly Twitter, by another Chinese dissident, Zhao Lanjian, on Sept. 11.

Mr. Zhao, a citizen journalist who recently fled China and sought asylum in the United States, said on X that many key members of the CCP’s arms industry have been arrested.

He named four executives in the aviation and aerospace industry: Liu Shiquan, a missile technology expert and business executive who is the chairman of the Board of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC); Yuan Jie, chairman of China National Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CNASIC); Chen Guoying, director and general manager of China Ordnance Equipment Group Corporation; and Tan Ruisong, former chairman of China National Aviation Industry Corporation (CNAIC).

The first three are considered the technical backbone of rocket manufacturing in China.

In the past several months, Chinese leader Xi Jinping took down several Rocket Force military chiefs, whom he personally appointed after he came to power. In June, former Rocket Force commander Li Yuchao was taken away for investigation by the military’s “anti-corruption” agency. Deputy commander Liu Guangbin and former deputy commander Zhang Zhenzhong were also taken away.

Then, on July 31, Chinese authorities announced that Mr. Xi had appointed a new commander and a new political commissar of the Rocket Force, indirectly confirming that the aforementioned officers had fallen from grace.

In addition, Wei Fenghe, the former Minister of Defense, has also not been seen since he was replaced in a State Council reshuffle in March of this year. Mr. Wei served as the first commander of the Rocket Force from 2015 to 2017.