Update | 'He made Xi Jinping very angry': the rise and fall of once-powerful Chinese general Guo Boxiong
Former vice-chairman of China's Central Military Commission, who faces prosecution for taking bribes, courted favour with ex-president to become one of the leaders of the country’s military
Guo Boxiong, the alleged leader of the “Northwest faction” in the military, secured a powerful future by becoming the first general to publicly declare his loyalty to Jiang Zemin during the early stages of his presidency, according to military insiders.
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The relationship served both men well – Guo allegedly used his position to spin a network of personal businesses while Jiang secured the allegiance of a proxy within the circle of top generals, allowing him to wield power even after he left office, the insiders say.
During the mid-1990s, Guo was delivering a speech to officers at the Beijing military command where he was deputy chief, and Jiang was scheduled to visit.
Whether by accident or design, Jiang overheard at least part of Guo’s address, according to two sources.
“I was told that Jiang happened to eavesdrop on Guo’s speech to military officers saying he had pledged loyalty to the then new ‘core leadership of Jiang’. As a result, Jiang was very happy,” said a source close to the PLA’s Academy of Military Science. Not long afterwards, Guo was made head of the Lanzhou military command.
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By the time he retired in 2012, Guo had risen to the highest ranks of the military.
