BEIJING (Realist English). China has opened investigations into the last two senior leaders of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who had survived earlier purges, a move that effectively leaves President Xi Jinping in sole operational control of the country’s armed forces.
The Chinese Communist Party is probing General Zhang Youxia, vice-chair of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and General Liu Zhenli, a CMC member and chief of the PLA’s joint staff, for suspected “serious discipline violations and violations of the law”, the defence ministry said on Saturday.
If confirmed, the removal of Zhang and Liu would reduce the Central Military Commission to its smallest size in history, leaving only Xi, who chairs the body, and Zhang Shengmin, head of the military’s anti-corruption watchdog who was promoted to CMC vice-chair last October.
Xi has spent years tightening control over the PLA through restructurings and purges aimed at enforcing loyalty and discipline. The latest probe follows last April’s removal of He Weidong, then the military’s second-ranking officer. While officially framed as anti-corruption measures, analysts say the investigations are also linked to factional struggles and concerns over combat readiness.
“This is the most stunning development in Chinese politics since the early days of Xi’s rise to power,” said Dennis Wilder, a former CIA official. “He now has only one officer remaining on the powerful CMC. This is like the US Joint Chiefs of Staff with only one general. You cannot run the PLA this way.”
The CMC sets military strategy and directs operations. Since Xi became China’s top party and military leader in 2012, he has used purges and reforms to make the armed forces more politically reliable as he pursues his goal of turning China into a great power on par with the United States. US and Taiwanese officials say Xi has ordered the PLA to be capable of taking Taiwan by force by 2027.
Analysts suggest the investigations may reflect frustration with slow progress toward that target. “Corruption may emerge during the probes, but underperformance and failure to deliver credible combat readiness appear to be the core issues,” said Tristan Tang of the Pacific Forum.
Speculation over the fate of Zhang and Liu intensified after both were absent from state media footage of a high-level study session chaired by Xi earlier this week — often an early sign that senior officials are under investigation. Such probes can last months or years and typically end with detention, dismissal and expulsion from the Communist Party.
