China has launched a corruption investigation into one of its most senior military leaders, a move that takes President Xi Jinping’s long running purge directly into his closest political and personal circle and further tightens his grip on the armed forces.
The probe targets General Zhang Youxia, a Politburo member and senior vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, the body that oversees the People’s Liberation Army. China’s defense ministry announced on Saturday that Zhang was under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law.
The investigation stands out because Zhang has long been considered one of Xi’s most trusted allies. Both men are known as princelings, the children of veteran Communist Party officials, and have shared ties dating back decades.
Zhang, now 75, was widely expected to retire in 2022. Instead, Xi kept him on the Central Military Commission for a third term, a decision that analysts viewed as a sign of deep personal trust.
China specialists say the case shows that loyalty to the party leadership now outweighs even long standing personal relationships.
“This move shows that even figures at the very center of Xi’s political universe are not immune,” one China analyst said, describing the investigation as a significant shift from earlier purges that focused on more distant rivals.
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The investigation also concentrates more authority in Xi’s hands. Zhang was effectively Xi’s second in command within the military structure. His removal leaves the already opaque leadership of the armed forces even more centralized.
Neil Thomas, a fellow at the Asia Society, said the impact is unprecedented. “Xi has eviscerated the PLA top brass like no leader before him,” he said.
Another senior figure, Liu Zhenli, head of the Central Military Commission’s Joint Staff Department, is also under investigation. With multiple members sidelined, the seven member commission has effectively been reduced to a small core led by Xi.
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State media framed the investigation as a major success. In a front page editorial on Sunday, the PLA Daily said the two generals had seriously undermined the Chairman Responsibility System.
Under that system, Xi, as chairman of the Central Military Commission, holds ultimate authority over military decisions. The framework is described by the government as the institutional expression of the Communist Party’s absolute control over the armed forces.
“To cite violations of the Chairman Responsibility System suggests Zhang had accumulated too much independent influence,” said Lyle Morris, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.
Since taking power in 2012, Xi has placed the military at the center of his anti corruption drive. The campaign intensified in 2023 when it swept through the elite Rocket Force, which controls China’s nuclear arsenal and missile systems.
Two former defense ministers have also been expelled from the Communist Party in recent years over corruption cases, according to state media and reporting by Reuters and the Associated Press.