Guo Boxiong (born July 1942) is a former
general
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
of the
People's Liberation Army of
China. He served as the Vice Chairman of the
Central Military Commission, China's top military council, between 2002 and 2012. During the same period he also held a seat in the
Politburo of the
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
,
[Andrew Scobell and ]Larry Wortzel
Larry M. Wortzel (born 1947) served nine terms as a commissioner on the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission of the United States Congress. A 32-year military veteran, he was a U.S. Army colonel, director of the Strategic St ...
. ''Civil-Military Change in China: Elites, Institutes, and Ideas After the 16th Party Congress''. Darby PA: DIANE Publishing, 2004. China's top decision-making body. He was expelled from the Communist Party on 30 July 2015. On July 25, 2016, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for bribery.
Career
![Gates meets guo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Gates_meets_guo.jpg)
Guo was born in
Liquan County
Liquan County () is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xianyang, in the central part of Shaanxi province, China. It was known as Liquan () County before 1964.
Administrative divisions
As 2016, this County is divided ...
,
Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...
province. In August 1958, Guo, aged 16 and just finished middle school, began working at a military factory in
Xingping, Shaanxi province. Guo joined the
People's Liberation Army in 1961. Two years later, he joined the
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
. Guo was trained at China's
National Defense University
The National Defense University (NDU) is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level education, training, and professional development of national security leaders. As ...
and the
Xi'an Army Academy
Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongq ...
in
People's Liberation Army Military Academy
People's, branded as ''People's Viennaline'' until May 2018, and legally ''Altenrhein Luftfahrt GmbH'', is an Austrian airline headquartered in Vienna. It operates scheduled and charter passenger flights mainly from its base at St. Gallen-Alten ...
where he graduated.
Guo earned a series of promotions in the 1970s. In the 55th Division of the 19th Army, Guo rose from a soldier to chief of staff of the 55th Division by 1982.
[ By 1983 Guo was chief of staff of the 19th Army until 1985, when he became deputy chief of staff of the Lanzhou Military Region after a major re-organization of the PLA that took place under ]Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CCP ...
. Afterwards Guo became commander of the 47th Group Army for three years. In 1993 Guo became deputy commander of the Beijing Military Region
The Beijing Military Region was one of seven military regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. From the mid 1980s to 2017, it had administration of all military affairs within Beijing city, Tianjin city, Hebei province, Shanxi province, ...
, the heart of China's defense establishment, and in 1997 commander of the Lanzhou Military Region. In September 1999, Guo became a member of the Central Military Commission, deputy chief of staff, and was also promoted to the rank of General (the highest rank in the army).
In 2002, at the 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party
The 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held in Beijing between November 8 and 14, 2002. It was preceded by the 15th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. 2,114 delegates and 40 specially invited delegates a ...
, Guo became the member of Politburo and the vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), serving alongside Hu Jintao, who became nominal General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount leader ...
at the same Congress. The Vice-Chairmanship of the CMC is the highest executive position given to military officers. Guo served for ten years. He retired from the Politburo in 2012 and the Central Military Commission in 2013.
Investigation
After Guo's retirement, Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...
, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount leader ...
and supreme commander of the PLA, began a far-reaching anti-corruption campaign. Guo was subject of intense rumours surrounding possible involvement with corruption during his time in office, particularly in overseas Chinese media. Guo and his former colleague of the same rank, retired general Xu Caihou
Xu Caihou (; June 1943 – March 15, 2015) was a Chinese general in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the country's top military council. As Vice-chairman of the CMC, he was one of th ...
, attended a new year's gala in early 2014, signalling that both may have "weathered the storm". However, shortly thereafter, in the summer of 2014, as part of the fallout of the Gu Junshan
Gu Junshan (; born October 1956) is a former lieutenant general in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China who was sentenced to prison for corruption. He served as the Deputy Director of the PLA General Logistics Department (GLD) from Decemb ...
case, Xu was court-martialed and expelled from the party. After Xu's fall, Guo was euphemistically referred to in Chinese-language media as the "Northwest Wolf" (), an oblique reference to Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...
's slogan to "crack down on 'tigers' and 'flies'." Sensing impending doom, friends from Guo's hometown visited Guo in Beijing, urging him to "clarify the situation to the authorities" to avoid the same fate as Xu. In response, Guo reportedly said, "some things cannot be easily clarified." His fate was sealed.
In February 2015, Guo's son, Guo Zhenggang, a rear admiral in the PLA Navy, and his wife, were detained for investigation by military authorities in connection to business and real estate dealings. This was followed by reports in international media that Guo himself was also undergoing investigation. On March 5, in response to a reporter's question about whether Guo Boxiong was under investigation, the party's main anti-corruption crusader in the military, General Liu Yuan, responded simply with the phrase "" (that is, "I think you know what I mean.")
After approval from the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party
The Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, formally known as the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and known as the Central Bureau before 1927, is the decision-making body of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). ...
, Guo was placed under investigation on April 9, 2015, by the . On July 30, following another Politburo meeting, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party's top anti-corruption body, released a statement charging Guo with taking bribes personally and through his family in exchange "for aiding in the promotion f officers" He was duly expelled from the Chinese Communist Party and his case moved to military prosecution authorities for further processing.
Guo was, remarkably, the fourth member of the 17th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party
The 17th Central Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party was elected by the 17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on October 22, 2007. Eventually, four members of this Politburo were expelled from the Communist Party for not adhe ...
to be expelled from the Communist Party (the first three were Bo Xilai
Bo Xilai (; born 3 July 1949) is a Chinese former politician who was convicted on bribery and embezzlement charges. He came to prominence through his tenures as Mayor of Dalian and then the governor of Liaoning. From 2004 to November 2007, ...
, Zhou Yongkang
Zhou Yongkang (born 3 December 1942) is a former senior leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He was a member of the 17th Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), China's highest decision-making body, and the Secretary of the Central Politic ...
, and Xu Caihou
Xu Caihou (; June 1943 – March 15, 2015) was a Chinese general in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the country's top military council. As Vice-chairman of the CMC, he was one of th ...
).
On July 25, 2016, Guo was sentenced to life imprisonment for bribery.
Personal life
Guo Boxiong has a brother, () born in 1961, who, until 2015, headed up the Department of Civil Affairs of Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...
province and a former official in the city of Weinan
Weinan () is a prefecture-level city in the east central Shaanxi province, China. The city lies on the lower section of the Wei River confluence into the Yellow River, about east of the provincial capital Xi'an, and borders the provinces of S ...
. Boquan was reportedly detained by the authorities for investigation in March 2015, though it seemed that he was able to maintain his position following Guo Boxiong's investigation. Guo Boxiong has a son, Guo Zhenggang, who was a major general in the People's Liberation Army, who held a leading military post in Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...
province; Zhenggang was also detained for investigation in February 2015.
References
External links
Biography of Guo Boxiong at China Vitae
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guo, Boxiong
People's Liberation Army generals from Shaanxi
1942 births
Living people
People from Xianyang
Expelled members of the Chinese Communist Party
Commanders of the Lanzhou Military Region
People's Liberation Army generals convicted of corruption
Members of the 17th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party
Members of the 16th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party