Seemingly risky move to oust two generals ahead of Communist Party congress and PLA centenary sends a message about anti-corruption drive.

The sudden removal of China’s two most senior generals is believed to be a stark warning underscoring President Xi Jinping’s zero-tolerance focus on Communist Party discipline and political purity ahead of two landmark events next year.

Beijing announced on Saturday that Zhang Youxia, first-ranked vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and China’s top uniformed officer, was under investigation for serious disciplinary violations, as was Liu Zhenli, chief of the CMC’s Joint Staff Department.

Their downfall leaves China’s supreme military command with only two members, chairman Xi and second-ranked vice-chairman Zhang Shengmin, who is in charge of discipline affairs within the armed forces.

The investigation comes as Beijing weighs both opportunities and risks ahead of two events next year: the 21st party congress, a five-yearly event marked by top-level reshuffles, and the PLA centenary, the deadline for the first major milestone in the People’s Liberation Army’s modernisation goals.

Removing two senior military leaders ahead of these landmark events is bound to be viewed as a risky move, but observers said it revealed Xi’s resolve to prioritise discipline, focus and political purity above all else.

In a 2020 speech, Xi warned that conduct damaging the party’s purity persisted, citing unresolved “ideological impurity, political impurity, organisational impurity and conduct impurity”.

The bold move to remove Zhang Youxia and Liu should not be interpreted as a simple power struggle, a source said on condition of anonymity.

“There is no evidence of any meaningful political challenger in sight. Both men are closely associated with Xi and their careers are tied to him. This has happened because they failed to meet his standards,” the source said.

Both Zhang and Liu, key veterans of the Sino-Vietnamese conflicts of the 1970s and 80s, were conspicuously absent from a top-level party seminar chaired by Xi last week – a development that fuelled widespread speculation about their political fate.

Their most recent public appearance was on December 22, when Xi awarded promotion certificates to two military officers elevated to the rank of general.

On Sunday, the official PLA Daily said the decision to investigate Zhang and Liu had once again shown that the party leadership’s clear position was that “no place is out of bounds, no ground is left unturned, and no tolerance is allowed” in the fight against corruption.

The Ministry of National Defence notice on Saturday announcing the investigation said Zhang and Liu were suspected of “serious violations of discipline and law”, a phrase commonly used as a euphemism for corruption, including bribery.

Their offences could extend beyond mere bribery, the PLA Daily editorial suggested.

The two had “trampled on and undermined” the “CMC chairman responsibility system”, it said, referring to the rule that grants Xi, as CMC chairman, the absolute and final say on all military matters.

Their conduct “seriously fuelled political and corruption issues that affect the party’s absolute leadership over the military and endangered the party’s ruling foundation, seriously affecting the image and prestige of the CMC leadership team”, the article alleged.

It also accused them of causing serious damage to efforts to strengthen political loyalty within the military, eroding its political environment and undermining overall combat readiness – with repercussions that had severely affected the party, the country and the armed forces.

Analysts said the fate of Zhang and Liu served as a stark warning that no official was immune in the drive for “self-revolution”, a signature concept promoted by Xi to describe the party’s internal drive for purification and renewal.

Self-revolution to fight corruption and ensure healthy governance is Xi’s answer to a question posed 80 years ago in a cave dwelling in Yanan, China’s revolutionary base: how can the country escape the historical cycle of rise and fall to sustain long-term governance? Known as the “cave-dwelling question”, it was originally raised by the patriot Huang Yanpei in 1945 to Mao Zedong – whose response was “placing authority under the watchful eye of the people”.

Revisiting the question in 2021, Xi said the answer was “self-revolution”. And in his New Year’s Eve address last month, he urged the party to continue answering the Yanan “cave-dwelling question” well and prepare a response that lived up to public expectations.

Alfred Wu, associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said the language used in the PLA Daily article indicated that Zhang and Liu’s offences might have gone beyond corruption, possibly amounting to disloyalty to the party leadership.

“Such a decisive and quick announcement [about Zhang and Liu] is a strong signal from Xi that loyalty is crucial. No matter the family background, work experience or connection with Xi himself, [that] will not actually help in reducing the penalty if you are not loyal to the party centre,” Wu said.

Zhang’s downfall is particularly striking, as he is not only China’s top military official but also one of the few Beijing figures with deep family ties to Xi and personally trusted by him.

Analysts were not surprised by the downfall itself, as rumours had swirled for a while, but rather by how quickly it was officially confirmed.

Typically, bringing down senior officials involves a long prelude. For example, the downfall of former CMC vice-chairman He Weidong and Miao Hua, the CMC’s political work director, took nearly seven months – from public absence and rumours to official announcement.

In contrast, Zhang and Liu’s cases quickly moved from speculation to detention, with few visible clues.

Xi’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign, launched in 2012, has intensified since 2023. It has toppled numerous senior PLA officers – including PLA Rocket Force commanders, leaders of the paramilitary People’s Armed Police, as well as theatre command chiefs.

James Char, assistant professor with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said that by placing Zhang under investigation, Xi had finally responded to criticisms by some PLA watchers, “that his anti-graft campaign against military malfeasance is a selective exercise”, that those with close ties to him “apparently got a free pass”.

According to Wu, more arrests are likely, with Beijing focused on steadying PLA morale as concerns rippled through the ranks.

Char said: “Those who count among Zhang and Miao’s followers, who still remain in the PLA, will also likely act cautiously and be proactive in mouthing their support for their commander-in-chief and his military agenda.”

Republished from South China Morning Post on 25 January 2026.