High-Ranking Generals Ousted Amidst China’s Widening Military Purge

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High-Ranking Generals Ousted Amidst China's Widening Military Purge

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This action is part of an extensive anti-corruption campaign initiated by President Xi Jinping in 2012, which has led to the investigation and removal of numerous high-ranking officials and generals.

China’s top legislative body, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, announced on Friday, August 28, 2026, the removal of two high-ranking military officials, Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, from their state defense positions. Zhang Youxia, formerly the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and China’s highest-ranking uniformed military officer, and Liu Zhenli, a CMC member and chief of the CMC Joint Staff Department, had been under investigation since January 24, 2026, for “suspected serious discipline and law violations,” a common term for corruption.

In addition to Zhang and Liu, two other former senior officers, Zhong Shaojun and Ju Qiansheng, were also removed as deputies to the National People’s Congress. Zhong Shaojun, a long-time aide to President Xi Jinping, had been quietly removed as Political Commissar of the National Defense University in October 2025.

This sweeping purge is part of President Xi Jinping’s broader anti-corruption campaign, which began in 2012. The campaign has increasingly targeted the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in recent years, with a series of investigations since 2023 focusing on senior officers across key institutions like the Rocket Force, the Ministry of National Defense, and the military procurement system. The PLA Daily, an official military newspaper, stated earlier this year that the investigations and punishments of Zhang and Liu would eliminate “obstacles and stumbling blocks” to the military’s development and address weaknesses in its combat capabilities, also accusing them of undermining Xi’s authority.

The removals leave the formerly seven-member Central Military Commission with only two known active members: President Xi Jinping and anti-corruption chief Zhang Shengmin. The ongoing anti-corruption drive aims to reinforce political control and command discipline within the PLA and is seen as a way for Xi to ensure absolute loyalty and modernize the armed forces.

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