China’s defence ministry announced on Saturday that one of the country’s most senior military leaders is under investigation, marking the highest-profile crackdown on the armed forces in recent years as Beijing continues to modernise its military and project power abroad.
Zhang Youxia, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and a close ally of President Xi Jinping, is being investigated for suspected serious violations of discipline and law. The ministry also confirmed that Liu Zhenli, chief of staff of the CMC’s Joint Staff Department, is facing a similar probe.
Zhang, who serves as second-in-command of the CMC — China’s top military body — is also a member of the ruling Communist Party’s elite Politburo and is among the few senior officers with direct combat experience. He has not appeared in public since November 20, when he met Russia’s defence minister in Moscow.
The investigation comes amid a sweeping anti-corruption campaign within the People’s Liberation Army, first launched by Xi Jinping in 2012. The crackdown intensified in 2023 when it reached the upper ranks of the military, including the strategic Rocket Force. Zhang’s case marks only the second time since the Cultural Revolution that a serving CMC general has been removed under such circumstances.
Analysts and foreign diplomats are closely monitoring the developments, given Zhang’s long-standing relationship with Xi and the importance of the CMC in shaping China’s military command and modernisation efforts. Despite the purge, experts say daily military operations are likely to continue uninterrupted.
China has adopted a more assertive military posture in recent years, particularly in the East and South China Seas and around Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own. Late last year, China conducted its largest-ever military exercises around the island.
Singapore-based security analyst James Char said the move suggests Xi is responding to criticism that earlier crackdowns were selective, while reaffirming the leadership’s commitment to its long-term military goals of completing modernisation by 2035 and building a world-class force by 2049.
Zhang is the latest in a series of senior military figures to fall from grace. Former CMC vice-chairman He Weidong was expelled from the party and the military in October last year on corruption charges, while several other top generals and former defence ministers have also been purged in recent years.
Born in Beijing, Zhang joined the army in 1968 and rose through the ranks, playing a key role in China’s military modernisation drive. He gained combat experience during border conflicts with Vietnam in 1979 and 1984 and has long been viewed as a proponent of modern tactics, advanced weaponry, and improved training.
The investigation, reported by Reuters, is expected to have far-reaching implications for China’s military leadership and its ongoing defence reforms.
