 Chinese missiles filled with water instead of fuel. US intelligence believes the sacking of several high-ranking Chinese military figures before New Year was linked to widespread corruption in the People's Liberation Army. Bloomberg has reported citing people familiar with the assessments. The problem is the most pressing within China's rocket force, in which major investments have been made in recent years. The agency said it cited several examples of graft within the People's Liberation Army based on American assessments. Among other things, Bloomberg's sources mentioned Chinese missiles filled with water instead of fuel and waste fields of missile silos in western China with faulty lids that won't allow the munitions to launch effectively. According to the sources, corruption inside the rocket force and the defense industrial base is so rampant that US officials now consider Chinese President Xi Jinping to be less likely to contemplate major military action in the coming years than would otherwise have been the case. Washington suggests that corruption has led to an erosion of confidence in the overall capabilities of the People's Liberation Army in Beijing and also set back some of Xi's plans to turn the Chinese military into a modern force by 2027, the sources said. In late December, Beijing announced the dismissal of nine military figures, five of whom were linked to the rocket force from China's top legislature, the National People's Congress. Shortly before that, three high-ranking officials in charge of missile production in the country lost their jobs. There have been other high-profile changes within the military in recent months, including the sacking of Chinese Defense Minister Li Xiangfu in late October amid reports of his involvement in a corruption scandal.