News Desk
BEIJING — China’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday that Gen. Zhang Youxia, the country’s highest‑ranking uniformed officer and one of President Xi Jinping’s closest longtime allies, is under investigation for suspected “serious violations of discipline and the law.” The announcement marks the most dramatic escalation yet in Xi’s yearslong effort to cleanse the People’s Liberation Army of corruption and perceived disloyalty.
General Zhang, 75, serves as the first vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, the powerful party body that oversees China’s armed forces and is chaired by Xi. The ministry also confirmed that Gen. Liu Zhenli, chief of the Joint Staff Department and another commission member, is facing a parallel inquiry. As in previous cases, officials offered no details beyond the standard language that typically signals allegations of graft, abuse of authority or breaches of party discipline.
The move is extraordinary not only for General Zhang’s seniority but for his personal ties to Xi. A veteran of China’s 1979 border war with Vietnam and the son of a prominent revolutionary‑era commander, he has long been regarded as one of the president’s most trusted military lieutenants. Both men come from “princeling” families whose fathers were part of the Communist Party’s founding generation, and General Zhang’s loyalty was widely seen as central to Xi’s consolidation of control over the military after 2012.
Analysts say the investigation underscores the intensity — and the insecurity — driving Xi’s purge of the armed forces, even at the cost of sidelining some of its most experienced leaders.
“The purging of even a childhood friend in Zhang Youxia shows there now are no limits to Xi’s anti‑graft zeal,” said one Western diplomat who follows elite Chinese politics, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. “It suggests either deep paranoia or a calculation that no one, however close, can be considered indispensable.”
The inquiry comes amid a wave of high‑level dismissals that has left the Central Military Commission unusually hollowed out. In recent years, Xi has removed defense ministers, rocket force commanders and other senior officers, part of a broader anticorruption campaign that has ensnared hundreds of thousands of officials across the party and state. But the targeting of General Zhang — who remained in office well past the customary retirement age — carries particular symbolic weight.
State media outlets aligned with the PLA have hinted at more serious allegations than those disclosed by the Defense Ministry, accusing General Zhang of actions that “affected the party’s absolute leadership over the military.” The phrase echoes Xi’s insistence on unchallenged civilian control and suggests the case may involve not only financial misconduct but perceived challenges to his authority under the “chairman responsibility system.”
The developments have intensified speculation about turbulence within China’s military hierarchy as Xi prepares for a potential fourth term at the 21st Party Congress in 2027. With few senior officers remaining who have any combat experience — General Zhang and General Liu were among the last with frontline service dating to the late 1970s — questions are growing about the PLA’s readiness for major operations, including any confrontation over Taiwan.
Xi has defended the purges as essential to modernizing the armed forces and eliminating officers who prioritize personal gain over combat capability. But critics inside and outside China warn that the campaign risks weakening the institution by concentrating power in fewer hands.
“Xi has been willing to sacrifice military strength to ensure personal loyalty,” said a former Chinese official now living abroad. “The PLA’s command structure is thinner than at any point in decades.”
The Defense Ministry offered no timeline for the investigations or clues about who might replace the two generals. In China’s opaque political system, such inquiries almost always end in party expulsions and criminal convictions.
For now, the fall of General Zhang stands as both a warning and a paradox — a demonstration of Xi’s unrivaled authority, delivered through the dismantling of one of his closest and most enduring military allies.
