Xu, 71, is suffering from terminal bladder cancer and was taken Saturday from his sick bed at a military hospital in Beijing by “dozens of armed policemen”.
The arrest occurred on the same day that Chinese president Xi Jinping led the first meeting of a committee that will tackle reform in the military establishment of the country.
Xu, suspected of participating in the sale of military ranks, as well as other corruption charges, has been placed under custody of the Chinese Communist Party in a procedure known as “shuanggui”, a disciplinary measure used to interrogate party members in secret detention centers.
According to the South China Morning Post, if Xu ends up in court, he would be the highest-ranking military officer ever tried for corruption. However, analysts believe that because the trial would be held in a military court, it is unlikely that the verdict will be announced to the public.
The CMC is the leading organ of the military forces and the third branch of power in the country after the Communist Party and the government. Xu was promoted to the CMC in 1999 and became its vice-chairman in 2004.
The decision to take Xu into custody was only made recently due to his terminal cancer diagnosis. Reformists, who accused Xu of rampant corruption, demanded action.
As a Beijing-based retired senior colonel told the Post, "We believed at the time that Xu would be 'the biggest tiger' that would be caught in the anti-graft campaign. We were very disappointed to learn that Xu was exempt [from prosecution] because of his illness. There is much concrete evidence to prove Xu's involvement in corruption.
"Many military officials, especially at the middle-level, couldn't accept Xu's immunity from a graft probe."
