Top member of Chinese military anti-corruption unit may be caught up in graft probe

The deputy head of the Chinese military’s anti-corruption unit, Lieutenant General Tang Yong, has been removed from his position in the country’s top political advisory body – usually a sign that the person in question is under suspicion of corruption.

Tang was removed from the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at a high-level meeting on Wednesday, according to a report from state news agency Xinhua.

No explanation was given for his removal and there was no announcement that he was under investigation, but there is an ongoing anti-corruption drive in the military.

In the People’s Liberation Army, such a decision usually implies that the person in question is suspected of corruption or other illegal activities and the exact reason for their downfall will not be announced until much later.

The last known public appearance by Tang, the deputy secretary of the Central Military Commission’s Discipline Inspection Commission, was in March last year, when the official newspaper PLA Daily reported that he was one of the CPPCC members who submitted a proposal to guarantee housing rights for service personnel at the body’s annual gathering.

Tang’s membership of the body was made public in January 2023 when Xinhua published a list of the names of the “specially invited individuals” who were to join the 14th CPPCC to supplement its formal sectors.

Earlier in his career, Tang, 58, served as deputy head of the military court of the southeastern Nanjing military region.