China has suspended a top military official and placed him under investigation for corruption, the defense ministry said, as leader Xi Jinping broadens a sweeping purge in the upper ranks of the world’s largest military.

Senior Colonel Wu Qian, the ministry spokesman, made the announcement at a news conference in Beijing, saying that the decision to investigate Miao, who is also director of the Political Work Department of the CMC, was made by the Communist Party of China Central Committee.