Global & US Headlines
Xi Jinping Purges CMC Vice-Chair Zhang Youxia and Joint Chief Liu Zhenli
On 24-25 Jan 2026 Beijing announced corruption probes into CMC vice-chair Zhang Youxia and Joint Staff chief Liu Zhenli, abruptly stripping the PLA’s top body to just two members and ending Zhang’s decades-long dominance.
Focusing Facts
- Defence Ministry statement (Jan 24, 2026) said Zhang, 75, and Liu, 61, were under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law,” the first simultaneous fall of two Politburo-level generals since 1989.
- Their ouster leaves the seven-seat Central Military Commission with only Xi Jinping (chair) and political commissar Zhang Shengmin, reducing experienced combat commanders on the CMC to zero.
- Wall Street Journal, citing an internal PLA briefing, alleges Zhang leaked nuclear-weapons data to the United States in return for bribes tied to promotion favors.
Context
Elite military decapitations on the eve of grand-strategy milestones are not new: Stalin’s 1937 purge removed three of five Soviet marshals, crippling command coherence when Germany invaded in 1941; Mao’s Cultural Revolution (1966-76) likewise sidelined veteran field commanders and delayed PLA modernization until the 1980s. Xi’s January 2026 move fits a century-long pattern of personalist leaders privileging loyalty over competence as they push sweeping reforms—in this case the 2035-world-class-military timetable. If the leak allegations prove true, it hints at deeper fissures inside China’s civil-military nexus; if embellished, they illustrate how “national-security crimes” are weaponized to enforce obedience. Either way, hollowing the CMC concentrates decision-making in one man’s hands—potentially accelerating political directives but eroding institutional resilience. On a 100-year horizon, today’s PLA may be remembered less for hardware leaps than for whether it avoided the strategic blunders that often follow purges of seasoned officers.
Perspectives
International mainstream media
e.g., News18, The Irish Times — Portray Xi’s investigation of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli primarily as the latest chapter of a long-running anti-corruption campaign meant to clean up the PLA and reinforce party discipline. By largely echoing official statements and emphasising the ‘anti-corruption drive,’ these outlets risk normalising Xi’s power consolidation and downplaying the purge’s political calculus or its impact on military readiness.
Regional outlets amplifying espionage allegations
e.g., The Times of India, Israel Hayom — Focus on Wall Street Journal sourcing that Zhang leaked nuclear secrets to the United States and sold promotions, casting the scandal as a dramatic spy story that threatens China’s strategic arsenal. Heavy reliance on anonymous briefings and second-hand U.S. reporting lets sensational details overshadow verified facts, which can inflate fears of covert clashes and feed anti-China narratives.
Defense-analysis and think-tank media
e.g., The Diplomat Magazine, Maritime Executive — Interpret the purge as evidence of severe leadership instability inside the PLA, suggesting Xi’s distrust of professional officers is hollowing out combat effectiveness and delaying any Taiwan operation. Because these outlets infer motives from sparse data and emphasize worst-case institutional turmoil, their assessments may overstate disorder to fit an analytical storyline of a weakened Chinese military.