Two former Chinese defense ministers have received death sentences with two years’ reprieve — meaning they will probably spend the rest of their lives in prison — after being convicted on bribery charges, military courts announced on Thursday.

中国军事法院于周四宣布，两名前中国国防部长因贿赂罪名被判处死刑，缓期两年执行——这意味着他们可能会在监狱中度过余生。

The two men, both generals, are the most senior officers so far to have been publicly sentenced in China’s latest campaign to root out corruption and disloyalty in the armed forces.

这两位将军是中国近期在军队中针对腐败和不忠诚展开的行动中，迄今被公开判刑的最高级别将领。

A brief report from the official Chinese news agency Xinhua said that one of the two former ministers, Gen. Wei Fenghe, had taken bribes, while the other, Gen. Li Shangfu, had both taken and given bribes. The announcement gave no further details about the allegations. In China, judges usually reduce death sentences with two years’ reprieve to life in prison if those convicted demonstrate good behavior.

据中国官方通讯社新华社的一份简短报道称，其中一位前部长魏凤和上将犯受贿罪，而另一位李尚福上将犯受贿罪、行贿罪。公告未透露指控的更多细节。在中国，如果被判刑者表现良好，法官通常会将死刑缓期两年执行减为无期徒刑。

The two generals were among the first senior officers to be removed from their posts and arrested as the latest drive by Xi Jinping, China’s leader, to clean up the military’s top brass was gaining momentum a few years ago. Since then, around 100 senior officers have been dismissed or have disappeared from public view, suggesting that they are under investigation, according to a recent estimate from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a research group in Washington.

随着中国领导人习近平几年来清理军队高层的最新行动势头增强，这两位将军是最早被撤职并逮捕的高级军官。根据华盛顿研究机构战略与国际研究中心最近的估算，自那以后，已有约100名高级军官被撤职或从公众视野中消失，后一种情况表明他们正在接受调查。

At a meeting last month, Mr. Xi indicated that his anticorruption campaign would continue, Chinese official media reported.

据中国官方媒体报道，习近平在上个月的一次会议上表示，他的反腐运动将继续进行。

Analysts said the sentences handed down to General Wei and General Li would serve as a warning to others in the military about Mr. Xi’s determination to continue with the shake-up, even though it has severely depleted his high command. Mr. Xi’s recent comments suggested that he sees corruption and disloyalty in the military as related threats, because the temptations of self-enrichment also weaken officers’ fealty to the Communist Party and to Mr. Xi.

分析人士指出，对魏凤和及李尚福的判决将对军中其他人起到警示作用，表明习近平决心继续这场整顿，尽管这已严重削弱了他的高层指挥系统。习近平最近的言论表明，他将军队中的腐败和不忠诚视为相互关联的威胁，因为中饱私囊的诱惑也会削弱军官对共产党和习近平本人的忠诚。

“Charges like this can be about real corruption and also a political tactic,” said Andrew Nien-Dzu Yang, an expert on the Chinese military who formerly served in Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense.

“这类指控既可能涉及真实的腐败，也可能是一种政治手段，”曾任职于台湾国防部的中国军事问题专家杨念祖表示。

“Putting these two senior military leaders under a suspended sentence to death can be used to justify the tightening control of the armed forces under Xi Jinping,” Mr. Yang added.

“将这两位高级军事领导人判处死缓，可以作为习近平加强对武装部队控制的正当理由，”杨念祖还说。

General Li was appointed defense minister in March 2023, but months later, he stopped carrying out his normal public activities and was then dismissed from his post. The following year, Communist Party investigators accused him and General Wei, who had been the defense minister from 2018 to 2023, of taking large bribes, trading in military promotions and compromising weapons production with their corruption.

李尚福于2023年3月被任命为国防部长，但几个月后停止了正常的公开活动，随后被解除职务。次年，中共调查人员指控他同2018年至2023年担任国防部长的魏凤和收受巨额贿赂、买卖军衔，并因腐败问题损害了武器生产。

In China, the post of defense minister is a relatively weak one, because the real power lies in the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party, under Mr. Xi’s command. The accusations against the two former ministers may date to their earlier careers, including when they commanded military units that spent large amounts of money.

在中国，国防部长的职位相对弱势，因为真正的权力掌握在习近平领导的中共中央军事委员会手中。针对这两位前部长的指控可能追溯到他们更早期的职业生涯，包括他们执掌有大量开支的军事单位的时期。

General Li, 68, rose through the ranks in rocket and weapons development, as well as in China’s manned space program. He was a deputy commander of the Strategic Support Force, which Mr. Xi created in late 2015 as part of a reorganization of the Chinese military. General Wei, 72, was the first commander of the Rocket Force, which oversees most of China’s nuclear missiles as well as thousands of conventional ones.

68岁的李尚福在火箭和武器开发以及中国载人航天计划领域逐步晋升。他曾任战略支援部队副司令员，该部队是习近平在2015年底军队重组过程中创立的。72岁的魏凤和则是火箭军的首任司令员，该部队掌管着中国大部分核导弹以及成千上万的常规导弹。

Since the two former ministers’ downfall, many more senior Chinese commanders have been dismissed and investigated. In January, the most senior full-time officer in the People’s Liberation Army, Gen. Zhang Youxia, was placed under investigation, along with a deputy.

自这两位前部长倒台以来，还有更多高级指挥官被撤职和调查。今年1月，解放军最高级别的现役军官张又侠上将及其一名副手也被调查。

General Zhang and the deputy had both been members of the Central Military Commission, which has shrunk from seven members in 2022 to just two: the chairman, Mr. Xi, and Gen. Zhang Shengmin, who has been the top anticorruption investigator in the military.

张又侠及其副手曾是中央军委成员。目前，中央军委已从2022年的七人缩减至仅剩二人，包括主席习近平，以及一直主持军队反腐调查工作的张升民上将。

“All this really creates a tense atmosphere in the Chinese military,” said Mr. Yang, the military expert.

军事专家杨念祖表示：“这一切确实在中国军队内部营造了一种紧张的气氛。”