Fang Fenghui and Zhang Yang expelled from the CPC

Two senior former military commanders who were under graft probes have been expelled from the Communist Party of China and the People's Liberation Army, the military announced on Tuesday.

Fang Fenghui, former chief of the Central Military Commission's Joint Staff Department, has been transferred to a military court to face graft accusations, the military said in a statement.

It said investigators found Fang, also a former member of the Central Military Commission, had seriously violated the Party's political disciplines and rules, as well as the military's regulations. Investigators linked the former general to taking and giving bribes and possessing large amounts of assets that he could not explain their sources.

Fang's wrongdoings were abominable and the amount of money involved in his case was enormous, the statement said. It added that he was neither loyal nor truthful to the Party and had hugely jeopardized the Party's cause and tarnished the image of the PLA.

Military prosecutors have concluded their probe into Fang and filed the case with an unidentified military court, the statement said. It also noted his membership in the Party and the PLA, as well as his rank as a general, have been abolished.

In another development, Zhang Yang, former head of the Central Military Commission's Political Work Department, who committed suicide in November, has been punished posthumously by the military for acts of corruption exposed by internal investigation, the military said in another statement on Tuesday.

The Central Military Commission decided to deprive Zhang of his Party and military membership and his general's rank. His assets involved in his misconduct were confiscated.