China’s expulsion of two former defense ministers from the Chinese Communist Party this week signaled a sharp escalation in Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s years-long effort to root out corruption and ensure total loyalty in the armed forces.

       The announcement accused Wei Fenghe, defense minister from 2018 to 2023, and his successor, Li Shangfu, who was removed after only seven months in the job, of bribery as well as a crime considered far worse in China: political disloyalty.