Admissions at center of probe into PLA graft

Senior Colonel Ma Xiangdong is being questioned over admissions to military schools, becoming the latest senior military officer to be investigated in the government's ongoing anti-graft campaign, according to business news website caixin.com.

It said Ma was taken away by investigators early this month shortly after he became the chief of the political office of the PLA Nanjing Institute of Politics in East China's Jiangsu Province.

According to sources, Ma had illegally profited from selling admissions when he was director of the army officers training bureau of the PLA's general political department, the website said.

This year, China's 29 military schools and army academies took in nearly 15,000 students and cadets, the website said.

Military school students don't pay for their education or living expenses, the costs being covered by the army. They also enjoy free medical treatment when in school.

Also earlier this month, Dai Weimin, vice president of the same army institute, was being investigated over allegations he took bribes related to construction projects on the institute's Shanghai campus, caixin.com reported.

The two cases are not related, caixin.com added.

In October, military prosecutors said Xu Caihou, former vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, had confessed to accepting bribes.

In March, Gu Junshan, former deputy head of the PLA general logistics department, was charged with offenses that included bribery.