Zhong Shaojun, once Xi Jinping’s right-hand man in the military, was among the four commanders expelled from the Party-controlled legislature.
China has removed two top generals from its highest military command body and expelled two other senior commanders from a Communist Party-controlled legislature, as turbulence continues within the upper echelon of the country’s armed forces.
Once China’s No. 1 general, Zhang Youxia, has been removed from the national Central Military Commission (CMC), according to a brief statement issued by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee via state media Xinhua on Aug. 28.
The statement didn’t offer any reason for the swift dismissal of Zhang, who had served as vice chair of the national CMC since 2018.
Zhang, also a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) ruling Politburo, was abruptly placed under investigation in January, along with another senior commander, Liu Zhenli. Both men were accused of serious violations of discipline and laws, a phrase that generally refers to corruption or disloyalty.
Liu was also stripped of his title as a member of the national CMC, according to Xinhua.
Technically, China has two separate CMCs—one affiliated with the state and the other within the CCP—sharing the same personnel and leadership. In practice, however, the Party’s CMC holds the real power. The two commanders haven’t been formally, or at least publicly, expelled from the Party’s military body.
The latest announcement effectively reduced the CMC from six members to one, plus Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the top.
China’s armed forces have been embroiled in an unprecedented purge that has almost vacated the leadership of every branch of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), raising questions about the military’s combat readiness.
A February report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that more than 100 senior military commanders have likely been purged since 2022.
Unlike the military chiefs previously targeted, Zhang and Liu are among the few active-duty generals in the country who have battlefield experience. Zhang served in China’s brief war with Vietnam in 1979, while Liu took part in border skirmishes with Vietnam in the 1980s.
Separately, the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s rubber-stamped legislature that formally appoints senior state officials, revoked Zhang and Liu’s membership, according to Xinhua.
By Dorothy Li
