Chinese general commits suicide after graft probe

BEIJING — A top Chinese general committed suicide after authorities opened an investigation against him over his links to two corruption-tainted former senior military officers, state media said yesterday.

Zhang Yang, a member of the Central Military Commission, hanged himself in his Beijing home on November 23, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing a commission statement.

Zhang was the latest official to be ensnared in President Xi Jinping's sweeping anti-corruption campaign, which has brought down 1.5 million Communist Party officials of various levels as well as top military brass since 2012.

Zhang, who was the director of the commission's general political department, was investigated in connection to Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, top military officials who were expelled from the ruling Communist Party.

Guo, a vice-chairman of the commission, became the most senior People's Liberation Army (PLA) official to be convicted of corruption in half of century when he was sentenced to life in 2016.

Xu, also a vice-chairman, died of cancer in 2015 while undergoing a probe for graft.

According to Xinhua, Zhang “gravely violated disciplinary protocols and broke the law, was suspected of bribery as well as taking bribes, and holding valuable assets whose origins are unclear.”