Insiders say the widespread internal resistance and command dysfunction are a rejection of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s authority.
Internal orders issued by China’s top military authority have met widespread resistance at the grassroots level following the purge of two of the country’s most senior generals, according to multiple sources close to the People’s Liberation Army who spoke to The Epoch Times.
After Central Military Commission (CMC) Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia and chief of the Joint Staff Department Liu Zhenli were placed under investigation on Jan. 24, at least two directives issued by the CMC General Office to theater commands and group armies were ignored or only passively acknowledged. Sources said the grassroots troops within the military are expressing dissatisfaction, with the command-and-control system of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) showing signs of dysfunction.
Ruan, a China-based source familiar with the military who gave only his surname out of fear of reprisal, told The Epoch Times that the CMC’s top leadership has now been reduced to just two figures: Chinese leader Xi Jinping and CMC Vice Chairman Zhang Shengmin.
Within the military, Ruan said, the removal of Zhang Youxia and Liu—both career officers rooted in the military’s command system—has been widely interpreted as a concentrated political purge, triggering resentment across multiple theater commands.
Reaction Inside the Ranks
Ruan said the news of Zhang Youxia and Liu’s purge spread quickly within the armed forces, prompting strong internal reactions.
“This has severely undermined trust in top-level decision-making,” Ruan said, noting that many officers now view the process as driven by loyalty enforcement rather than institutional discipline.
Ruan said that on the same day the investigations were announced on Jan. 24, the CMC General Office issued at least two documents instructing military units to “maintain consistency with the Party Central Committee and the CMC” and to organize political study sessions for learning communist ideology and pledging loyalty to the regime.
However, in several regions those instructions were met with silence. Some units declined to issue public statements or hold internal meetings. A follow-up directive issued the next day—intended to suppress growing backlash—produced no meaningful change, and compliance remained minimal.
A review of official military and defense websites by The Epoch Times in the days following the purge showed no public declarations of loyalty from theater commands or major service branches—an absence that sources said is highly unusual in the PLA’s political culture.
“The command channel for top-level military orders has effectively stalled,” said a source close to the military, who spoke to The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.
“From commanders to rank-and-file soldiers, dissatisfaction with the Central Military Commission is spreading.
“Orders are issued, but no one takes them seriously.”
