OPINION

Soviet lessons for Chinese purges

News, Minxin Pei, Published on 18/08/2015

» On Aug 1, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) celebrated its 88th anniversary. But the country's 2.3 million soldiers have little to cheer about. On the eve of the anniversary, the PLA's former top general, Guo Boxiong, was unceremoniously booted out of the Communist Party and handed over to military prosecutors to face corruption charges, including allegations that he took large bribes from fellow PLA officers in exchange for promotions. And Mr Guo will not be the last PLA officer to face such charges.