Chinese leader Xi Jinping once showcased the People's Liberation Army's top brass as a monument to unity — a high command stacked with loyalists meant to make the PLA a "world-class force."
Now that stage-managed image has collapsed.
A New York Times analysis reports that Xi has effectively purged the military leadership he presented to the nation in March 2023, ousting every officer on the Central Military Commission lineup from that year except one.
The latest and most shocking fall, the Times reported, was that of Gen. Zhang Youxia, long viewed as Xi's top general, along with Gen. Liu Zhenli, another key operational commander.
The result, according to the Times, is a leadership void at the top of the world's second-most powerful military, with abrupt removals hitting nearly every major wing of the PLA, including the Rocket Force, the navy, and the theater commands responsible for Taiwan contingencies.
The breadth of the purge is staggering. The Times said China began 2023 with at least 30 generals and admirals running specialized departments and theater commands. Nearly all have since been expelled or have disappeared from public view.
Replacements have not solved the problem. Many of the new appointees also vanished, leaving only a small handful of senior officers apparently still in active roles.
Even China's military newspaper has acknowledged the churn is causing "short-term hardships and pain," a rare public admission of disruption inside a system built on projecting strength.
To Beijing, the official explanation is familiar: anti-corruption. But even sympathetic observers note that Xi's purges are also about loyalty and fear.
NBC News cited the Chinese Defense Ministry saying Zhang and Liu were being investigated for "serious violations of discipline and law," while a PLA newspaper editorial accused them of undermining the military's "chairman responsibility system" — a clear reference to Xi himself.
Analysts told NBC the message is unmistakable: Political loyalty comes before combat readiness, and "no one is safe."
Foreign Affairs was more blunt, calling it the "total annihilation" of Xi's high command.
The magazine argued the scale of the purge is less evidence of Xi being a passive bystander and more evidence of deliberate control — a political blitzkrieg meant to force compliance with his demand that the PLA be able to "fight and win wars."
The same analysis warned outsiders not to assume the turmoil makes conflict over Taiwan "off the table." Rather, it may reflect Xi's impatience — a man willing to accept short-term instability to build a force he trusts.
The Financial Times struck a note of alarm by saying that regardless of whether the purge signals Xi's vulnerability or his strength, concentration of power in one leader's hands is inherently dangerous.
Cowed subordinates are less likely to deliver unwelcome truths — a recipe for miscalculation in any crisis, especially one involving Taiwan.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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