"Am I Next?" Senior Military Officials on Edge as China Continues Purge After Ousting No. 2

"Xi Jinping No Longer Trusts Anyone"
Personnel Purge Likely to Continue

As the Chinese military purges Zhang Youxia, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission and the second-highest ranking officer, along with Liu Zhenli, a member of the Central Military Commission, there are growing concerns that this wave of "personnel cleansing" will continue as a new military leadership is formed.

According to foreign media reports on January 25, the Central Military Commission in Xi Jinping's third term consisted of seven members: President Xi Jinping, Vice Chairmen Zhang Youxia and He Weidong, and commission members Li Shangfu, Liu Zhenli, Miao Hua, and Zhang Shengmin.

Yonhap News Agency

However, in 2023, former Defense Minister Li Shangfu was ousted; in 2024, former Director of the Political Work Department Miao Hua lost his position; and in 2025, former Vice Chairman He Weidong, who was third in the military hierarchy, was removed. Most recently, with the fall of Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia and commission member Liu Zhenli, only President Xi and commission member Zhang Shengmin remain on the Central Military Commission.

Some observers suggest that this round of personnel cleansing may continue for the time being. On this day, the People's Liberation Army Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese military, stated in an editorial, "The investigation and review of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli for serious violations of discipline and law once again demonstrates that the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission have zero tolerance for corruption, and that their crackdown is comprehensive and spares no one. No matter how many people are involved, all will be investigated; no matter how deep the corruption runs, it will be rooted out." Analysts interpret this as a signal that the current trend of purging close associates is likely to persist.

Kou Chien-wen, a distinguished professor in the Department of Political Science at National Chengchi University in Taiwan, said in an interview with Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao, "The network of relationships within the People's Liberation Army (Chinese military) will be restructured, and all high-ranking officials are likely feeling uneasy." He added, "The internal reorganization of the military will continue and will also affect personnel appointments for the upcoming 21st Central Military Commission." Chai Wen-hsuan, a research fellow at the Institute of Political Science at Academia Sinica in Taiwan, pointed out that since President Xi "no longer trusts anyone," it has become impossible to allow any individual's influence to persist within the military, making the fall of Vice Chairman Zhang only a matter of time.