Retired PLA officers told to ‘return houses’ in graft crackdown
Beijing to clampdown on ex-People's Liberation Army personnel found to be abusing property privileges, according to official state media
The central government has told retired military officers to return non-essential public housing after an investigation found “irregularities”, state media said on Saturday, as Beijing stepped up efforts to stamp out official corruption and excess.
Abnormalities were revealed in an inspection into “housing and infrastructure construction” that began last year as part of a wider crackdown into corruption in China’s military, Xinhua news agency said.
It also said the new measures were endorsed by the chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, President Xi Jinping, who has launched a much-publicised war on graft since taking office last year.
They will involve officers and their families only being allowed to “occupy one public housing unit in a single city, and its size must be appropriate for the official’s rank,” Xinhua said, citing a military circular that appeared in Friday’s newspaper.
“Officials were ordered to give back extra properties if they have more than one military-owned apartment or their combined size exceeds the allowance for their ranks,” the news agency added.
Families of deceased officers were also being told to leave military properties if they already owned housing, Xinhua added.
