China removes 19 lawmakers ahead of meeting

China’s legislature has dismissed 19 members, including nine who are military officers, one week ahead of the start of its annual meeting. Announcement did not say why the deputies had been removed, but such removals are generally tied to corruption investigations. An anti-corruption campaign launched by Chinese leader Xi Jinping shows no sign of letting up after more than a decade. The military has been targeted in recent years, including the removal of its top general last month, as Xi seeks to reform and modernise the armed forces. 

Analysts say the campaign is also a way for Xi, who is in his 14th year in power, to remove potential rivals and ensure loyalty among his subordinates. The dismissals aren’t likely to have a major impact on the meeting of the National People’s Congress, which opens next Thursday and is expected to run for a week. The largely ceremonial legislature rubber stamps decisions that have been made by the ruling Communist Party.

The removed officers include two under the Central Military Commission, the military’s highest body, as well as others from the army, the navy, the air force and the rocket force. Three are generals. The rocket force, which overseas China’s nuclear arsenal, was an early target of the military purges. The other dismissed deputies were regional representatives from several provinces.

The dismissals were announced by the legislature’s Standing Committee, a smaller and more powerful group of members who meet periodically throughout the year and can approve legislation. The Standing Committee, which met ahead of next week’s congress, also fired two officials, the president of the military court and Emergency Management Minister Wang Xiangxi. Authorities announced  last month that Wang is the subject of a corruption investigation.