Corruption may hamper China military modernisation: Pentagon

WASHINGTON: Corruption in China´s military has led to the removal of top leaders and may hamper the country´s efforts to modernize its armed forces, a Pentagon report released on Wednesday said.

In 2023, Beijing´s forces “experienced a new wave of corruption-related investigations and removals of senior leaders which may have disrupted its progress toward stated 2027 modernisation goals,” the congressionally mandated annual report on Chinese military and security developments said.

At least 15 high-ranking military officers and defense industry executives were removed from their posts between July and December 2023, according to the report.

“Several leaders investigated or removed for corruption oversaw equipment development projects related to modernising the PRC´s ground-based nuclear and conventional missiles,” it said, using an abbreviation for the People´s Republic of China.

The 2027 goals that may be impacted include “boosting the speed of modernisation in military theories, organisations, personnel, and weapons and equipment,” according to the report.

A senior US defence official noted that “frequent turnover and replacement of high-level personnel certainly can be disruptive,” while efforts to uncover corruption can slow down projects and also spiral from one official to others who are connected.