China Signals Further Military Purge After Abrupt Fall of Senior Generals, Analysts Say

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Jan 27, 2026 - 11:00 Updated: Jan 27, 2026 - 10:52
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China Signals Further Military Purge After Abrupt Fall of Senior Generals, Analysts Say

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The removal of two of China’s most senior military leaders raises fresh questions about Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s control over the armed forces, experts say, as state media rhetoric suggests the military purge may not be over.

On Jan. 24, China’s Ministry of National Defense announced an investigation into Zhang Youxia, a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Politburo and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and Liu Zhenli, a member of the CMC who also serves as chief of the Joint Staff Department of the commission.

Shortly after the official announcement of Zhang’s removal, the PLA’s official propaganda newspaper, PLA Daily, published a commentary framing the move in ideological terms, calling for the military to adhere to CCP political ideologies and eliminate opposing influences.

Such language, analysts note, echoes past political campaigns in which Beijing sought to justify sweeping purges as necessary acts of political purification rather than routine anti-corruption enforcement.

U.S.-based veteran Chinese political commentator Cai Shenkun wrote in a Jan. 23 post on X, a day before the official announcement, that at least 17 senior officers, in addition to Zhang, had been taken into custody, and warned that a broader crackdown could soon extend to lieutenant generals, major generals, and even mid-level field commanders.
Lingling Wei, chief China correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, wrote in a Jan. 24 post on X that the fallout is likely far from over. Under Zhang and Liu’s leadership, she noted, thousands of officers were promoted into senior roles.
“These individuals now recognize they are primary targets for a systemic purge,” she wrote.

Warning Signs Before the Fall

Signs of internal tension appeared even before Zhang’s official removal.
After his unexplained absence from the opening ceremony of a high-level study session for provincial and ministerial-level officials, China’s military discipline watchdog convened an expanded meeting on Jan. 16.

State television footage showed an unusually thin attendance of senior officers.

Only two full generals were visible: CMC Vice Chairman Zhang Shengmin, who sat on the podium, and Han Shengyan, commander of the PLA’s Central Theater Command, who sat in the audience. Han had only been promoted to full general last month. By contrast, at the same meeting a year earlier, 14 full generals were in attendance.

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(Left) Liu Zhenli at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 11, 2023; (Right) Chinese Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia attends an official event in Qingdao, China, on April 22, 2024. Greg Baker/Florence Lo/Reuters
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What Comes Next for the PLA

Qin Peng, a U.S.-based China current affairs commentator, told The Epoch Times that officers closely associated with Zhang now face limited options: political marginalization, early retirement, or prosecution under anti-corruption investigations.

Tang Jingyuan, another U.S.-based China current affairs commentator, told The Epoch Times that China may be heading toward the largest military purge in the history of the CCP.

“Xi Jinping is now trying to replace the entire ‘nervous system’ of the PLA with people personally loyal to him,” Tang said. “That is an enormous undertaking.”

Tang said years of ideological indoctrination and anti-corruption campaigns have reshaped the officer corps.

“There are not many officers left with the backbone to resist,” he said. “Most will simply follow whoever wins.”

Since taking power, Xi has repeatedly used what the regime calls anti-corruption campaigns to remove senior military leaders, presenting the efforts as necessary to strengthen combat readiness and loyalty to the CCP. The apparent removal of a sitting CMC vice chairman would represent an unprecedented escalation.
Du Wen, a former legal adviser to the Inner Mongolia government who fled China and now lives in Belgium, said on his podcast that Xi may have set a historical record for the scale of military purges under CCP rule.
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