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China is investigating the two remaining leaders of its armed forces who escaped previous purges, in a move that leaves Xi Jinping in sole operational control of the People’s Liberation Army.
The leadership of the Chinese Communist Party has launched an investigation against Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Liu Zhenli, a CMC member and chief of the PLA Joint Staff, for suspected “serious discipline violations and violations of law,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
The CMC is in charge of determining the strategy of the armed forces and directing their operations.
The removal of Zhang and Liu has shrunk the CMC to its smallest size in history, leaving its only members Xi, who heads the body, and Zhang Shengmin, a political commissar who heads the military’s anti-corruption watchdog and was promoted to vice chairman of the CMC in October.
Xi has been pushing for several years to concentrate his hold on the PLA.
In the language of the Chinese Communist Party, the term “discipline violation” mostly means corruption. But it is closely associated with factional conflicts, and Party leaders dating back to Mao Zedong’s time have often used such investigations to purge rivals.
Since Xi became China’s top party and military leader in 2012, he has used a restructuring and multi-year purge of the PLA to make the military more reliable and battle-ready to pursue his ambition of making China a great power equal to the US.
According to the US and Taiwan governments, Xi has ordered the PLA to be prepared to occupy Taiwan by force by 2027.
Tristan Tang, non-resident fellow at the Pacific Forum, a think-tank, said the investigation “underscores Xi Jinping’s tight grip on the PLA, reflecting his willingness to remove senior commanders despite potential risks to institutional stability”.
Tang said the investigation likely reflected concerns over slow progress in building combat capability and inefficient use of defense resources under his leadership.
“Although the PLA has made advanced improvements in basic and joint training, joint training remains incomplete and resource intensive, raising questions about its readiness for Xi’s 2027 Taiwan timeline,” he said. “Corruption may emerge during the investigation, but poor performance and failure to provide credible combat preparedness appear to be the main issues.”
Zhang, a 75-year-old army general, is one of the few PLA officers with combat experience. He fought in China’s war with Vietnam in 1979. His family comes from the same region where Xi and his father fought together in the Chinese Civil War.
Because of their shared revolutionary family background and his status as a combat veteran, he was long seen as the Chinese leader’s most important ally in modernizing the PLA.
Despite leading key institutions in charge of weapons research and procurement, Zhang escaped Xi’s previous round of military purges, which sought to root out corruption in weapons development and acquisition.
But over the past year, Xi’s actions have become more focused on ensuring loyalty and political credibility among the military’s top brass, which analysts say makes powerful military officers more likely targets.
Zhang and Liu were absent from state media footage of a study session on Tuesday when Xi addressed top officials, including the party’s Standing Committee, sparking rumors he was in trouble. Such disappearance from public view is often the first sign that Chinese officials are being targeted by the purge.
The investigation may last for months or years. Most officials caught up in such investigations are detained, found guilty, and lose their jobs and party memberships.
