Chaos in China as Xi claims total control of army – top general purged | World | News
Chinese President Xi Jinping has seized total control of the country’s army after accusing his top general of “grave violations of discipline and the law”. The latest victim of Xi’s ruthless purge of military officials marks a step-up in the severity of his mission to root out corruption within the government, with Zhang Youixa, senior vice chair of the Central Military Commission, a long-time confidant and childhood friend of the president, effectively ousted from his post on Saturday. “This move is unprecedented in the history of the Chinese military and represents the total annihilation of the high command,” former CIA analyst Christopher K. Johnson told the New York Times.
“The purging of even a childhood friend in Zhang Youxia shows there now are no limits to Xi’s anti-graft zeal,” he added. Xi made rooting out purported corruption from the Chinese military a central mission after he came to power in 2012, turning his focus to the upper echelons of the People Liberation Army (PLA) in 2023.
Liu Zhenli, another member of the Central Military Commission, has also been placed under investigation, the defence ministry said without providing further details of alleged wrongdoing.
The two generals were accused of having “seriously abetted political and corruption problems that affect the [Communist] party’s absolute leadership over the military and endanger the foundation of the party’s rule” in an editorial published in the PLA newspaper on Sunday.
While commentators have suggested the crackdown on dissent in China’s armed forces risks undermining its ability to invade Taiwan, others say Xi understands how important control over the military is to maintaining his authoritarian regime.
“The military is the only organisation in China that has a history of defying party leaders,” Chinese military expert Dennis Wilder told the Financial Times.
“Xi probably feared that Zhang was all powerful in the military. Presuming that Xi wants a fourth term in office, he would have to fear that Zhang could lead an effort within the party to oust him.”
The move has reduced the commission to its smallest size in history, now only including Zhang Shengmin, the military’s anti-corruption watchdog, alongside the president.
The Communist Party previously expelled the other vice chair, He Weidong, last October, and also dismissed two former defence ministers over corruption charges in 2024.
