Chinese Ministry of National Defense investigations target Central Military Commission First Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli. These high-level purges isolate Xi Jinping and reduce the Central Military Commission core leadership from seven members in 2023 to two members in 2026, removing the last senior officers with Sino-Vietnamese conflict combat experience.
The sweeping anti-corruption campaign has affected over 100 two-star and three-star flag officers since 2022, including 22 officially acknowledged dismissals among an active roster of approximately 30 to 35 three-star officers. Eradicating systemic corruption stems from fears that graft could obstruct modernization goals, though these leadership vacuums across theater commands and services will create profound readiness disruptions. Xi Jinping and political commissar Zhang Shengmin now solely direct the People's Republic of China military decision-making body amid ongoing institutional purges.
The removal of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli leaves the Central Military Commission dependent on Zhang Shengmin's Discipline Inspection Commission apparatus to police an officer corps already hollowed out by the dismissal of up to 47 three-star generals since 2022. This institutional centralisation strips away the remaining operational veterans of the Sino-Vietnamese conflict, replacing combat-tested command authority with political commissar oversight across every theater command.
Consequently, the Central Military Commission Joint Staff Department risks institutional paralysis as sudden leadership transitions sever established chains of command during ongoing force modernization initiatives.
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