Xi's Purge Deepens: China Strips Two Top Generals of Military Command Posts

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A Command Structure Gutted

China's parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), confirmed on Friday that Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli have been stripped of their seats on the state Central Military Commission (CMC), the body that formally controls the armed forces. State broadcaster Xinhua reported the decision was passed by the NPC's Standing Committee.

Zhang had served as the CMC's senior vice-chairman, making him the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the Chinese military and second in authority only to Xi himself. Liu held the post of chief of staff of the CMC's Joint Staff Department. Both men also sat on the Communist Party's elite Politburo structure.

With their removal, only Xi and General Zhang Shengmin remain as active members of a commission that was fully staffed with seven officials as recently as 2022.

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Investigations Began Months Ago

The dismissals are not sudden. Chinese authorities placed both generals under formal investigation in January 2026 over what officials described only as "serious violations of discipline and law" — a phrase Beijing typically uses as a euphemism for corruption. According to the South China Morning Post, an internal commentary published by PLA Daily at the time accused the two men of betraying the party's trust and undermining the principle that the military answers directly to the CMC chairman, meaning Xi.

Both officers were considered veteran, battle-experienced figures. Zhang, 75, fought in China's 1979 border war with Vietnam, while Liu previously commanded the PLA's Ground Force. Their long service and perceived personal loyalty to Xi made their fall especially notable to military analysts.

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Part of a Wider Purge

The military has been a central target of the anti-corruption campaign Xi launched in 2012, a drive that intensified further after it reached the elite Rocket Force in 2023. Xi personally called on senior party leaders last month to deepen the anti-graft fight within the armed forces, according to Xinhua.

Beyond Zhang and Liu, ten other lawmakers lost their NPC seats in Friday's announcement, including Lieutenant General Zhong Shaojun, a former director of the CMC General Office, and General Ju Qiansheng, former commander of the PLA's Strategic Support Force. Separately, China's top political advisory body this week also removed Zhao Zongqi, the former commander who led the Western Theatre Command during the deadly 2020 border clashes with India.

Fox News noted that Zhang's removal alone represents a rare blow to a figure once seen as untouchable within Xi's inner military circle, underscoring how far the purge has reached into the top ranks.

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Party vs. State Structures

China maintains two parallel Central Military Commissions — one under the state and one under the Communist Party — which function in practice as a single institution. Friday's NPC decision affected only Zhang and Liu's positions within the state CMC. Neither man has yet been formally or publicly removed from the Communist Party's own Central Military Commission, a step that would confirm their political fall is complete.

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Outlook

The scale of the purge — now touching a dozen senior military and political figures in a single week — suggests Xi is continuing to consolidate personal control over the armed forces ahead of key leadership transitions. Analysts will be watching closely for confirmation of Zhang and Liu's status within the party's own CMC structure, and for who Xi may select to fill the commission's now-vacant seats.

For observers of the Chinese Communist Party's internal power struggles, the purge is a reminder that even decades of loyalty and battlefield credentials offer no lasting protection once a senior figure falls out of favor with the party leadership.

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Sources:

1. Reuters – https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/china-removes-top-generals-state-central-military-commission-2026-08-28/
2. South China Morning Post – https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3365646/china-strips-former-generals-zhang-youxia-and-liu-zhenli-top-military-positions
3. Fox News – https://www.foxnews.com/world/chinas-top-general-ousted-placed-under-investigation-latest-military-purge.print

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