Wang Shouye (; born 1943) is a former Chinese
vice admiral (''
zhong jiang
(; ja, 将, Shō; ) is the rank held by general officers in some East Asian militaries. The ranks are used in both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan. The People's Liberation Army and the People's Armed Police ...
'') who served as Deputy Commander of the
People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). He was convicted of embezzling 160 million
yuan of public funds and received a
death sentence with reprieve
Death with reprieve (, abbr.: ) is a criminal punishment found in the law of the People's Republic of China. According to the criminal law chapter 5 (death penalty), sections 48, 50 and 51, it gives the death row inmate a two-year suspended sent ...
in 2006, later commuted to life in prison. At the time of his conviction, it was the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the People's Liberation Army.
Life and career
Wang Shouye was born in 1943 to a peasant family in Li Village, Dengli Township,
Ye County
Ye County or Yexian () is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Pingdingshan, Henan province, China, with a population of .
The ancient town of Kunyang was located in Ye County. It was the site of the critical Battle ...
,
Henan
Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...
Province. An excellent student, he achieved the sixth highest score in Henan Province in the 1964
Gaokao
The National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), commonly known as the gaokao (), is a standardized college entrance exam held annually in mainland China. It is required for entrance into almost all higher education institutions at the und ...
and was admitted to
Tianjin University
Tianjin University (TJU, ), formerly Peiyang University (), is a national public research university in Tianjin, China. The university was established in 1895 by Guangxu Emperor's royal charter to be the first university of China. It is now fu ...
, where he majored in
civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...
.
In 1968, Wang was recruited into the PLA's
38th Group Army
The 82nd Group Army (), formerly the 38th Group Army, is a military formation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Forces (PLAGF). The 82nd Group Army is one of twelve total group armies of the PLAGF, the largest echelon of ground forces ...
based in
Baoding
Baoding (), formerly known as Baozhou and Qingyuan, is a prefecture-level city in central Hebei province, approximately southwest of Beijing. As of the 2010 census, Baoding City had 11,194,382 inhabitants out of which 2,176,857 lived in the b ...
, and served as a
military engineer
Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics ...
. His high educational background and technical ability distinguished him from other soldiers, and he steadily rose through the ranks. He was later transferred to the
PLA General Logistics Department (GLD), where he was repeatedly promoted, and appointed Head of the GLD Division of Infrastructure and Barracks in December 1995. In July 1994 he attained the rank of major general.
[ In July 2001, he was transferred to the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) to serve as a deputy commander. A year later, he was promoted to the rank of vice admiral ('']zhong jiang
(; ja, 将, Shō; ) is the rank held by general officers in some East Asian militaries. The ranks are used in both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan. The People's Liberation Army and the People's Armed Police ...
''). He was ranked second among the five deputy commanders of the PLAN.[
]
Corruption scandal
Wang Shouye was scheduled to retire in June 2006,[ but in December 2005, he was suspected of corruption and placed under '']shuanggui
''Shuanggui'' is an internal disciplinary process conducted by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) – and its lower-level affiliates – on members of the Party who are suspected of "viol ...
'' by the . In April 2006, he was court-martialled and convicted of embezzling 160 million yuan of public funds. He was sentenced to death with reprieve, which was later commuted to life imprisonment. At the time of his conviction, it was the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the People's Liberation Army.
Wang embezzled most of the funds between 1997 and 2001, when he was in charge of infrastructure and construction of barracks at the GLD.[ Although his final position as deputy navy commander was higher ranking, it was far less lucrative than the GLD position, which controlled enormous amounts of construction funds.][ Investigators who searched his homes in ]Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
and Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
found US$2.5 million stashed in a washing machine and 52 million yuan of cash in refrigerators and microwaves. He also had more than 50 million yuan held in bank accounts.[
Wang Shouye reportedly kept at least five mistresses, mostly from the military performance troupe.][ His most serious and long-term mistress was a military actress surnamed Jiang, who gave birth to a son. Jiang asked Wang to either marry her or break up with her. Wang could not marry her but wanted custody of their son, and Jiang requested a payment of five million yuan. After several years of fruitless bargaining over the payment, Jiang reported Wang's embezzlement to the leaders of the Central Military Commission, resulting in the investigation that led to his conviction.][
]
Patronage
In an article published in the liberal journal ''Yanhuang Chunqiu
''Yanhuang Chunqiu'' (), sometimes translated as ''China Through the Ages'', was a monthly journal in the People's Republic of China commonly identified as liberal and reformist. It was started in 1991, with the support of Xiao Ke, a liberal gener ...
'', retired Major General Zhang Jinchang suggested that Wang's promotion in the military was owing to the patronage of General Jia Ting'an
Jia Ting'an (; born September 3, 1952) is a retired general in the Chinese People's Liberation Army. He served as the deputy director of the Political Work Department. He was a principal aide to Jiang Zemin, former General Secretary of the Chin ...
, who is also a native of Ye County. Zhang stated that General Hong Xuezhi
Hong Xuezhi (; February 2, 1913 – November 20, 2006) was a general in the Chinese Red Army and a politician in the People's Republic of China. He was the only person awarded the rank of general in 1955 who was reawarded the same rank in 1988 ...
opposed Wang's promotion to deputy Navy commander for his lack of experience in the Navy. Wang may have also gained CCP General Secretary Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as pr ...
's favour for building the grandiose new headquarters of the Central Military Commission.
See also
*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 ...
, Chinese lieutenant general convicted of corruption in 2015
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Shouye
1943 births
People's Liberation Army generals from Henan
People's Liberation Army Navy admirals
Tianjin University alumni
People from Pingdingshan
Living people
People's Liberation Army generals convicted of corruption