China’s Top General Under Probe as Military Purge Depletes Key Command Body

ISTANBUL (Azat TV) – China’s top uniformed general, Zhang Youxia, is reportedly under investigation for alleged corruption and leaking nuclear secrets, a development that has left the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) with only two active members and signals a deepening of President Xi Jinping’s extensive anti-graft campaign within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The probe into General Zhang, the CMC’s first vice chairman, alongside fellow CMC member and Chief of Staff General Liu Zhenli, marks a significant shake-up in China’s military leadership, raising questions about stability and the pace of the PLA’s modernization efforts.

The investigations were confirmed by China’s Defense Ministry on Saturday, though no specific details of the alleged wrongdoing were provided. This action is considered highly radical given General Zhang Youxia’s prominent position, second only to President Xi Jinping in the military command structure, and his long-standing reputation as one of Xi’s closest military allies.

Top Generals Under Scrutiny

General Zhang Youxia, 75, and General Liu Zhenli, 61, were last seen in public on December 22, attending a ceremony to confer the rank of general on two senior PLA officers. General Zhang, who joined the PLA in 1968 and served in border skirmishes with Vietnam, rose through the ranks to become a Politburo member in 2017 and was promoted to first vice chairman of the CMC in 2022. General Liu served as chief of the Joint Staff Department at the CMC, overseeing the PLA’s joint operations, training, and combat readiness.

The Wall Street Journal, citing ‘people familiar with a high-level briefing on the allegations,’ reported that General Zhang is accused of ‘leaking information about the country’s nuclear-weapons program to the US and accepting bribes for official acts, including the promotion of an officer to defense minister.’ When asked for comment on these claims, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun stated on Monday that he was ‘not familiar with’ such allegations. Neil Thomas, a senior expert on China affairs at the New York-based Asia Society, expressed skepticism about the nuclear secrets leak claim, questioning how such an act could go undetected given the stringent monitoring of high-ranking officials.

Central Military Commission Severely Depleted

The Central Military Commission, the country’s top military body responsible for the overall capability and operational preparedness of the PLA, is typically composed of seven members: President Xi Jinping as chairman, two vice chairmen, and four members. With the ongoing probes into General Zhang Youxia and General Liu Zhenli, and the prior removal of other members, the CMC is now left with only two active individuals: President Xi Jinping and General Zhang Shengmin, who serves as secretary of the CMC commission discipline inspection.

This severe depletion follows a series of high-profile purges. In October of last year, General He Weidong, the CMC’s second vice chairman, was expelled from the party and the PLA for corruption. Admiral Miao Hua, another CMC member and director of the CMC’s political department, was removed in June. Former Defense Minister Li Shangfu, who also served on the CMC, was expelled from the party in July 2024 for ‘serious violations of discipline and law’ following his disappearance in August 2023. Admiral Dong Jun succeeded Li Shangfu as defense chief in December 2023 but has not been elevated to the CMC.

These actions mean that of the seven men appointed to the CMC at the 20th Party Congress in 2022, only President Xi and Zhang Shengmin remain untouched by anti-corruption investigations. The Chinese military newspaper People’s Liberation Army Daily wrote that those under investigation “undermined” Xi’s authority, abetted “political and corruption problems,” and “caused immense damage” to combat effectiveness.

Implications for Readiness and Taiwan

The extensive purges are part of a broader anti-corruption drive initiated by President Xi Jinping in 2012, which has targeted over 200,000 officials and reached the upper echelons of the PLA, including the elite Rocket Force in 2023. While experts like James Char, a China security scholar at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, suggest that the military’s daily operations could carry on as normal, the crackdown is reportedly slowing the procurement of advanced weaponry and impacting the revenues of some of China’s largest defense firms.

The full impact of these changes on China’s military readiness and its assertive posture, particularly concerning Taiwan, remains a subject of debate. China considers Taiwan its own territory and has not ruled out taking control by force, conducting large-scale military drills around the island recently. Neil Thomas of the Asia Society Policy Institute suggests the latest purge “makes China’s threat toward Taiwan weaker in the short term but stronger in the long term.” K. Tristan Tang, a nonresident Vasey Fellow at Pacific Forum, noted that while the purges do not fundamentally change the assessment of the PLA’s combat readiness, it is ‘not clear if the five vacant positions will be replaced soon or if Xi will wait until 2027’ for the next Party Congress.

The ongoing, unprecedented scale of purges within China’s top military leadership underscores President Xi Jinping’s relentless drive to consolidate absolute loyalty and ensure the PLA’s modernization aligns strictly with his vision, even if it entails significant internal upheaval and raises questions about command stability in the short term.