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 Guo Boxiong, 72, was a vice chairman of the powerful Central
Military Commission until he stepped down in 2012. Another former
vice chairman, Xu Caihou, was put under investigation last year for
corruption.
Before their retirement, the men had been two of China's top
military officers who served together under Xi's predecessor, Hu
Jintao. Xi was also a vice chairman with Guo and Xu from 2010-2012,
before he became head of the party and military commission chief.
Serving and retired military officers have said graft in the armed
forces is so pervasive it could undermine China's ability to wage
war. In one case, a senior officer has been accused of making
millions of dollars from selling hundreds of military positions.
The government announced an investigation into Guo's son, Guo
Zhenggang, a deputy political commissar of the military in the
eastern province of Zhejiang, on Monday. He had just been promoted
to a major general in January.
"Guo Boxiong himself is in trouble and is being investigated," a
source with ties to the military told Reuters, speaking on condition
of anonymity. "The announcement about his son was a message" to the
public about the father's probe, the source added, without
elaborating.
A second source with ties to the military confirmed that Guo was
being investigated, but provided no other details.
China's Defence Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Guo sat on the Central Military Commission, in charge of the world's
largest armed force of around 2.3 million personnel, for more than a
decade, having risen through the ranks after joining the army in
1961, according to his official biography.
In 2006 he visited the United States and met then-defense secretary
Donald Rumsfeld.
The Chinese government has fuelled speculation about his fate with a
commentary carried on the website of the Communist Party's People's
Daily late on Monday, headlined: "You know what signal the fall of
Guo Zhenggang sends".
It was widely picked up by other Chinese media.
"When it comes to fighting corruption in the military, the best part
of the show is yet to come," the commentary said, prompting a flurry
of responses on Weibo, China's answer to Twitter, that the father
was the real target.
INVESTIGATIONS WIDEN
The government has developed a habit of dropping hints in state
media about who is in trouble before formal announcements are made.
Beijing has announced investigations into more than a dozen senior
military officials on serious corruption charges, 14 of them on
Monday, including Guo's son. Many of those implicated have ties to
the scandal involving Xu.
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The news comes shortly before the annual meeting of China's
parliament, the National People's Congress, which opens on Thursday.
Corruption is likely to be a major talking point, though no new
measures to fight it are expected to be announced.
The Defence Ministry, in its own commentary issued on Monday, said
its efforts were paying off.
"The intense publicity surrounding these measures lets us see ...
the military's iron-handed determination to fight corruption," it
said, dismissing what it called "certain doubting voices on the
Internet" that the campaign is not serious.
Rumours that Guo and his son were being investigated for corruption
have swirled in the overseas Chinese press over the last few months.
Reuters has not been able to reach either Guo for comment.
Xi heads the Central Military Commission and has made weeding out
corruption in the military a top goal.
He has vowed to target high-ranking "tigers" as well as lowly
"flies" in a broad campaign against corruption which has intensified
since Xi became president.
While the drive has ensnared senior figures, internal Communist
Party harmony and respect for elders still hold sway, and Xi secured
the blessing of his still influential predecessor before launching
an investigation last year into a former senior aide to Hu.
The anti-graft drive in the military comes as Xi steps up efforts to
modernise forces that are projecting power across the disputed
waters of the East and South China Seas, though China has not fought
a war in decades.
China intensified its crackdown on corruption in the military in the
late 1990s, banning the People's Liberation Army from engaging in
business. But the military has been involved in commercial dealings
in recent years due to a lack of checks and balances, military
analysts have said.
(Additional reporting by Sui-Lee Wee; Editing by Mike Collett-White)
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