China has initiated its most dramatic military upheaval in decades, targeting top brass like Generals Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli. Officially framed as an anti-corruption drive, analysts argue the purge is a "ruthless test of loyalty" aimed at consolidating Xi Jinping’s absolute authority. The scale is unprecedented; nearly two-thirds of the 2022 uniformed leadership have been removed or disappeared, primarily within the sensitive Rocket Force. This systemic "annihilation" of the high command signals deep internal insecurity, potentially delaying China’s 2027 Taiwan readiness by fostering a culture of panic and risk-aversion within the party-army.
China’s top general, second only to Xi Jinping in the military command, has reportedly been put under investigation and accused of “serious violations of party discipline and the law,” the Ministry of National Defense announced on January 24, 2026. The general, Zhang Youxia, is a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, the Communist Party body that controls China’s armed forces, and a long-time close ally of Xi. Another senior figure, General Liu Zhenli, who leads the military’s Joint Staff Department, is also under investigation on the same charges. Observers have described this as one of the most dramatic shake-ups of China’s military leadership in decades, comparable in significance to Mao-era purges. In the days following the announcement, Chinese authorities also removed three lawmakers with defense-sector ties, underscoring the broader scope of the purge and its potential impact on military cohesion and strategic planning.
Purge of the PLA High Command
Chinese authorities have justified the purge primarily as part of Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption and discipline enforcement campaign. Official PLA media emphasized a “zero tolerance” approach to corruption, stressing that even the most senior commanders are not exempt if they violate Party rules. An editorial published in PLA Daily on January 25, 2026, titled “Resolutely Win the Tough, Protracted, and Overall Battle in the Military’s Anti Corruption Struggle”, accused Generals Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli of having “seriously betrayed the trust” of the Communist Party and the Central Military Commission and of fostering “political and corruption problems” that weakened the Party’s absolute leadership over the armed forces. The editorial further stressed that their conduct undermined the “system of ultimate responsibility resting with the CMC chairman,” a formulation that directly links the purge to safeguarding Xi Jinping’s personal authority over the military rather than merely addressing graft.
Analysts are calling it China’s biggest military purge in roughly half a century. The arrests of Generals Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli mark one of the most dramatic upheavals in the Chinese military. Of the seven officials appointed to the Central Military Commission in 2022, only two — Xi Jinping himself and Zhang Shengmin, the commission’s anti-graft officer — reportedly remain in power. The rest are either under investigation, expelled, or missing from public view. Two defense ministers have already been ousted, and in October 2025, nine top PLA commanders were purged.
This pattern of disappearance is not limited to the PLA alone: even China’s former Foreign Minister Qin Gang vanished from public view in 2023 and was later removed without any official explanation, leaving the world uncertain about where he went or what truly happened behind closed doors. Researcher Neil Thomas of the Asia Society Policy Institute, who studies Chinese politics and civil-military relations,calculated that nearly two-thirds of the uniformed officers appointed to key party-military committees in 2022 have since been purged or disappeared. Thomas highlighted that this extraordinary turnover is not the sign of institutional confidence but rather a sign of deep instability within the highest ranks of the PLA, reflecting Xi Jinping’s broader effort to consolidate control and enforce absolute loyalty, even at the expense of experience and continuity. He also noted that the pattern of absences by senior PLA leaders at key party meetings underscores the scale of the upheaval and ongoing turmoil in the military’s top echelons, stating: “Xi has eviscerated the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) top brass like no leader before him.”
The first purges in this wave focused on China’s Rocket Force, the strategic missile arm of the PLA that controls most of the country’s land-based nuclear arsenal as well as many conventional ballistic and cruise missiles. Since mid-2023, Xi Jinping has effectively dismantled much of the Rocket Force’s senior leadership, removing commanders, deputy commanders, and several top generals in what has been described as an unprecedented shake-up of China’s most sensitive military branch. Former Rocket Force commander Wang Xiubin and other senior officers were among those dismissed or placed under investigation, with Beijing framing the campaign as part of its sweeping anti-corruption drive within the armed forces and the defense industrial system. Subsequent investigations brought down admirals, regional commanders, and even members of the Central Military Commission itself, targeting many officers who had been promoted under Xi Jinping since 2012, when he vowed to cleanse the armed forces of endemic graft. Observers, including Duncan Bartlettwriting in The Diplomat in his article “What Do the Latest Purges Mean for China’s Military?” (December 2024), note that this scale of leadership disruption could delay China’s military readiness, particularly its often-cited goal of being prepared for a Taiwan contingency by 2027. Bartlett warned that “these purges signal chaos and disarray… that can have an impact on the image of the PLA and the perception of China’s willingness to use force.”
At the same time, the internal psychological impact on the officer corps is enormous: people inside the PLA will inevitably fear that anyone could be next, creating panic, risk-aversion, and insecurity throughout the command structure. This dynamic aligns with broader findings in organizational and authoritarian leadership research. For instance, Zheng, Graham, Farh, and Huang (2019), in their study “The Impact of Authoritarian Leadership on Ethical Voice: A Moderated Mediation Model of Felt Uncertainty and Leader Benevolence” (Journal of Business Ethics), found that “authoritarian leadership was negatively related to employee ethical voice through increased levels of felt uncertainty,” demonstrating how fear-based systems heighten uncertainty and suppress initiative. In the PLA context, such an atmosphere of unpredictability is likely to deepen hesitation, discourage initiative, and reinforce a climate where survival depends more on political safety than professional competence.
Fog Around Beijing’s Inner Circle
At the same time, some major international newspapers have linked Zhang’s downfall to allegations far more serious than corruption. The Wall Street Journal, cited by other outlets, reported that in closed internal briefings senior officers were allegedly told that Zhang was suspected of providing secret information about China’s nuclear weapons program to the United States, alongside accusations of taking bribes. The Guardian also noted that unnamed sources suggested such an allegation was circulating inside the system. Newspapers such as The Times of Israel and India Today repeated these reports, framing them as part of the wider purge narrative.
However, it is critical to underline that China has not publicly confirmed any nuclear leak charge. The official statement remains limited to the vague formulation of “serious violations of discipline and the law,” with no evidence released. These nuclear leak claims come entirely from Western media citing anonymous sources, not from Chinese authorities themselves. Given how opaque the Chinese system is, no one truly knows what is happening in the inner circle at this moment. It is a largely watertight place. Sensational stories of coups, gunfights in Beijing, or dramatic espionage plots thus need to be treated with great skepticism until verified.
The more plausible interpretation remains political. As Neil Thomas put it bluntly, “This is not just about graft, it’s about loyalty.” Xi’s purges are meant to project strength and ensure that only those absolutely loyal to him remain. Christopher K. Johnson, a former CIA analyst who follows Chinese elite politics,described Zhang’s investigation as “the total annihilation of the high command.” That language indicates that Zhang and Liu may have challenged Xi’s authority, whether through disagreements over modernization goals, failures to meet expectations, or struggles over influence within the ranks.
Moreover, the age and stature of Zhang Youxia raise further questions. Zhang is seventy-five years old, with more than six decades of service in the PLA. He is among the few senior commanders with real battlefield experience, having served in China’s last major war with Vietnam in 1979. It does not easily make sense that someone of such rank, history, and institutional loyalty would suddenly “sell out” state secrets for money. This points again toward political insecurity rather than simple corruption.
Party Commands the Gun
Whatever the reason, this purge will have a strong impact on the morale and confidence of military officers, because in their minds it will always remain that they could be purged next. This is not only about graft — it reflects Xi Jinping’s personal sense of insecurity, something common in dictatorships where any subordinate with networks and stature is perceived as a potential rival.
To understand the deeper meaning, one must remember that the PLA is not a national army but a party army. The principle that “the Party commands the gun” is fully institutionalized through the political commissar system, copied from the Soviet Union. Commissars report directly to party committees, ensuring that military action is always subordinate to political intent. The PLA’s loyalty is ultimately not to the constitution or the state but to the Communist Party and its supreme leader. Yet despite this system of control, Xi continues to purge at the highest level, suggesting deep mistrust within his own armed forces.
China today claims to be a stable partner “in an uncertain world.” But the bombshell investigation of its top generals tells another story: of instability at the top, insecurity in the leadership, and fear inside the party-army. The purge is not merely an anti-corruption campaign. It is a struggle over loyalty, power, and control at the heart of the Chinese system, and it will shape China’s military trajectory and Indo-Pacific stability for years to come.
Imran Khurshid, Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Kashmir, specializes in Indo-Pacific studies and South Asian security issues. He is an Associate Research Fellow at ICPS. The views expressed here are his own.
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