President Xi Jinping has assumed unchallenged control over China’s military following the abrupt purge of General Zhang Youxia, the country’s most senior uniformed officer, in a move that underscores the president’s tightening grip on every lever of state power. The shock announcement, made without explanation or indication of a successor, marks one of the most dramatic moments in Xi’s long-running campaign to reshape the People’s Liberation Army and eliminate potential rivals.
Neither the Communist Party nor the PLA offered details after Zhang’s removal, but reports in the Wall Street Journal alleged that he had been accused of leaking sensitive information about China’s nuclear weapons programme to the United States and of accepting bribes. The paper said Zhang was suspected of transmitting core technical data abroad, with evidence reportedly submitted by a former executive at the state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation. Chinese authorities have not publicly confirmed the allegations.
At the same time as Zhang’s fall, another powerful figure, General Liu Zhenli, was placed under investigation. Both men were accused of “serious violations of discipline”, a phrase commonly used by the party to denote corruption but which, in this case, appears to extend to political disloyalty. State media framed their downfall as part of Xi’s anti-graft drive, yet language used by the military’s official newspaper hinted at something deeper.
An editorial in the PLA Daily accused Zhang and Liu of gravely damaging the authority of the Central Military Commission and undermining ideological unity within the armed forces. More pointedly, the official announcement said they had “seriously trampled on and undermined the system of responsibility of the chairman of the central military commission”, an explicit reference to Xi himself. Analysts see this as a rare public acknowledgment of an internal power struggle at the very top of the party and military.
The consequences are far-reaching. After a wave of purges over the past three years, the Central Military Commission has been stripped of almost all its members. Of the six military figures appointed in 2022, five have now been removed, including a defence minister, a political commissar and two vice-chairmen. That leaves Xi, as chairman, alongside his trusted anti-corruption enforcer, effectively giving him sole command of the armed forces and removing institutional checks that once existed.
Zhang’s fall is particularly striking given his history with Xi. The two men were long considered close allies. Both are “princelings”, sons of revolutionary-era generals, and their fathers hailed from the same region of China. Zhang’s military credentials were formidable: he was one of the few senior figures with combat experience, having fought in China’s war with Vietnam, and he was widely seen as Xi’s key partner in modernising the PLA.
When Xi took charge of the Central Military Commission in 2012, he was reportedly alarmed by the state of the armed forces, which were plagued by corruption and outdated equipment. Zhang played a central role in the subsequent overhaul, as China poured resources into building a modern navy, advanced missile systems and indigenous military technology. By 2022, when Xi secured an unprecedented third term as party leader, Zhang had become the second most powerful figure in the state.
That prominence may have sealed his fate. As Xi dismantled long-standing norms of collective leadership and factional balance, Zhang emerged as the only other senior figure with an independent source of authority, rooted in his military record and elite background. According to reporting by Times UK, rumours had circulated in Beijing that Zhang resisted Xi’s increasingly personalised rule, turning a once-trusted ally into a perceived threat.
Zhang and Liu have not yet been formally expelled from the party or dismissed from the commission, but such announcements are rarely reversed, especially at this level. Observers believe they are now subject to “liu zhi”, the party’s opaque and feared internal detention system, which can last for months without charge or public scrutiny.
The purge raises questions about stability within the Chinese military at a time of heightened global tension, particularly over Taiwan. Some analysts warn that further removals of officers associated with Zhang and Liu could prove destabilising. Others argue that Xi may deliberately delay appointing replacements, as he has done in other high-profile cases, to prevent the emergence of alternative power centres.
Alfred Wu, a political analyst at the National University of Singapore, said Xi’s priority appeared to be political security rather than imminent military action. He noted that the former foreign minister Qin Gang has remained un-replaced more than two years after his own purge, suggesting Xi is in no rush to restore normal structures. Wu said Xi’s overriding concern was to ensure there would be no resistance to his securing a fourth term at the next party congress.
For now, the message from Beijing is unmistakable. By purging the last senior figures with the stature to rival him, Xi has consolidated his position as China’s undisputed leader, commanding the party, the state and the military with a degree of control unseen since the Mao era.
