General investigated for graft

General Tian Xiusi, 66, former political commissar in the People's Liberation Army Air Force, has been placed under investigation on suspicion of serious violations of discipline.

A military anti-graft department is looking into his case and will investigate suspected violations of Party regulations, according to www.81.cn, a news website affiliated to the PLA.

No detailed information about his case was available.

His wife and his secretary have also been placed under investigation, according to a report published on www.ifeng.com.

The report said he is the third general in the PLA to be investigated since the nationwide anti-corruption campaign started in late 2012.

Tian began his military career in the Military Area Command in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in 1968. He started as a soldier and worked his way up to deputy political commissar of the military region in 1999.

According to the report, Tian took part in a series of battles between China and Vietnam in the early 1980s.

He was promoted to the political commissar of the Xinjiang Military Area Command in 2005 and held a couple of senior positions in the Lanzhou Military Area Command and other military regions between 1999 and 2005.

He worked as the political commissar of the Chendu Military Area Command from 2009 to 2012 and worked for nearly three years as the political commissar of the Air Force until 2015.

He was appointed as the deputy head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress after he retired from the military in August 2015.

Military departments have been hit hard in the anti-graft campaign, with the two most highflying officers, Xu Caihou and Guo Boxiong, subjected to corruption investigations. Both served as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission before they were charged with corruption.

Xu was expelled from the military and the Party, and was removed from all posts in the military in June 2014. He died in March 2015 of bladder cancer.

According to China's Criminal Procedure Law, military prosecutors decided not to bring Xu's case to trial, but would deal with his illegal gains according to law, said a statement from the military procuratorate.

Guo, who served as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission from 2002 to 2012, was found to have misused power to seek promotions and benefits for others and accepted bribes.

His case was handed over to the military court in April, but no result has been announced. According to military prosecutors, Guo confessed to the corruption charges.