Top army suspect kills himself
BEIJING: A senior military official under investigation for corruption has committed suicide, state media said yesterday, the latest development in a sweeping antigraft campaign that has shaken the armed forces.
Zhang Yang, a former member of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), was being investigated over links to fallen generals Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Xinhua cited the commission as saying that the probe verified that Zhang “gravely violated discipline”, was “suspected of giving and taking bribes” and that the origin of a huge amount of assets was unclear.
“On Nov 23, Zhang hanged himself at home,” the news agency said.
Sources said Zhang, who was the military’s Political Work Department director, had been subject to an investigation.
Dozens of officers had been investigated and jailed, including Xu and Guo, both former vicechairmen of the commission, which Xi heads. Guo was jailed for life last year. Xu died of cancer in 2015 before he could face trial.
The Defence Ministry and military’s official websites said the CMC decided on Aug 28 to investigate Zhang, who had “lost his moral bottom line”, and used suicide as a means to “escape punishment from the party. Reuters