China probes senior army officers Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli – protection ministry

Zhang is a member of the elite Politburo of the ruling Communist Get together and vice-chairman of the Central Army Fee, whereas Liu is chief of workers of the CMC Joint Employees Division

China’s Communist Get together has determined to open an investigation into senior army officers Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli for suspected critical violations of self-discipline and regulation, China’s protection ministry mentioned on Saturday, January 24.

Zhang is a member of the elite Politburo of the ruling Communist Get together and vice-chairman of the Central Army Fee, whereas Liu is chief of workers of the CMC Joint Employees Division, based on the ministry.

Zhang, 75, a veteran moderniser, is broadly seen as President Xi Jinping‘s closest army ally and one in all just some main officers with fight expertise. He’s one in all two vice-chairmen of the CMC, China’s supreme armed forces command organisation.

Crackdown on graft

The army was one of many most important targets of a broad corruption crackdown ordered by Xi in 2012. That drive reached the higher echelons of the Folks’s Liberation Military in 2023 when the Rocket Power was focused.

Eight prime generals had been expelled from the Communist Get together on graft prices in October 2025, together with the nation’s quantity two basic, He Weidong. He had served underneath Xi and alongside Zhang on the Central Army Fee.

Two former protection ministers had been additionally purged from the ruling get together lately for corruption. The crackdown is slowing procurement of superior weaponry and hitting the revenues of a few of China’s largest protection companies.

International diplomats and safety analysts are watching developments carefully, given Zhang’s closeness to Xi and the significance of the fee’s work when it comes to command in addition to the PLA’s ongoing army modernisation and posture.

Whereas China has not fought a conflict in a long time, it’s taking an more and more muscular line within the disputed East China Sea and South China Sea, in addition to over the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which is claimed by China. Beijing staged the biggest army workouts to this point round Taiwan late final yr.

Zhang’s elimination is the second of a sitting basic on the Central Army Fee for the reason that 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. He has not been seen in public since November 20, when he held talks with Russia’s protection minister in Moscow.

Earlier that month, Zhang vowed in an article to crack down on “pretend loyalty” and “two-faced males” and known as on the army to remove “toxic influences and long-standing issues.”

Youngsters of civil conflict veterans

Each Xi and Zhang are from the northwestern province of Shaanxi and are the youngsters of former senior officers who fought collectively within the Nineteen Forties civil conflict.

Born in Beijing, Zhang joined the military in 1968, rising by way of the ranks and becoming a member of the army fee in late 2012 because the PLA’s modernization drive gathered tempo.

A Pentagon profile of Zhang in late 2023 famous that Zhang had been anticipated to retire in 2022, aged 72, given regular army follow.

“Nevertheless, Zhang’s retention on the CMC for a 3rd time period in all probability displays Xi’s want to maintain a detailed and skilled ally as his prime army adviser,” the profile mentioned, contained throughout the Pentagon’s annual report on China’s army that yr.

He fought Vietnam in a short however bloody border conflict in 1979 that China launched in punishment for Vietnam invading Cambodia the earlier yr and ousting the Beijing-backed Khmer Rouge.

Zhang was 26 when he was despatched to the entrance traces to battle the Vietnamese and was shortly promoted, based on state media. He additionally fought in one other border conflict with Vietnam in 1984 because the battle rumbled on.

“In the course of the battle, whether or not attacking or defending, Zhang Youxia carried out excellently,” the official China Youth Each day wrote in a 2017 piece entitled, “These Chinese language generals have killed the enemy on the battlefield”.

Some China students have famous that Zhang emerged from the battle an avowed modernizer when it comes to army techniques, weapons and the necessity for a greater educated drive. – Rappler.com