The ongoing purges of the PLA’s top brass have raised questions about Xi’s decade-long investment in modernizing the country’s armed forces.
The Chinese regime has expelled nine senior military leaders from its legislature controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), adding to signs that turbulence continues within the upper echelon of the country’s armed forces.
Li Qiaoming, former commander of the ground forces, was stripped of his membership at the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s rubber-stamp legislature, according to state media outlet Xinhua.
Li was among the five commanders holding the rank of full general who were removed from the nation’s top legislature on Feb. 26. According to state media, one lieutenant general and three major generals were also ousted.
No reason was given for their dismissals.
The announcement comes amid an unprecedented purge in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) that has led to the downfall of dozens of high-ranking officers, including some of the country’s most senior generals.
The CCP is known for its opacity, but its controlled armed forces are even more secretive, especially amid a political cleansing that has raised questions about its leadership stability. In recent months, Beijing has increasingly delayed disclosing purges of its senior military officers.
Among the senior commanders who were ousted on Feb. 26 were Qin Shengxiang, former political commissar of the navy; Yu Zhongfu, former political commissar of the air force; Shen Jinlong, former commander of the navy; and Li Wei, former political commissar of the information support force.
The other PLA officers expelled by Beijing include Ding Laifu of the ground force, Yang Guang of the rocket force, Bian Ruifeng of the Central Military Commission, and former political commissar of the National Defense Mobilization Commission Wang Donghai.
The announcement comes less than a week before the NPC’s annual session—China’s biggest political gathering—scheduled to begin on March 5. Over the following two weeks, about 2,800 delegates are set to rubber-stamp a slate of budgets, legislation, and personnel changes that have already been approved by the ruling CCP.
Analysts are now closely monitoring any signs of personnel changes during the upcoming session, particularly concerning the fates of the country’s most senior military chiefs, Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli.
By Dorothy Li
