China Purges Top Generals Over Corruption

​BEIJING — The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has expelled two of its highest-ranking military commanders, Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, from its ranks, marking a dramatic escalation in President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign.

​The decision was finalized on Monday during a high-level meeting in Beijing, following months of internal investigations into what state media described as “serious violations of discipline and the law”. Both officials have also been stripped of their positions and their cases transferred to military legal organs for formal prosecution.

​Zhang served as the senior vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC)—China’s top military command body—and sat on the elite 24-member Politburo. Widely regarded as China’s highest-ranking uniformed military officer second only to President Xi, Zhang’s downfall has sent shockwaves through international observer circles given his profound seniority and historical close ties to the Chinese leadership. Liu, the second official implicated, served as a CMC member and headed its Joint Staff Department.

​According to details released by the state news agency Xinhua, official probes concluded that the two generals had “become disloyal to the party and crossed red lines”. Investigators alleged that the accused officials engaged in systematic factionalism—forming unauthorized cliques—and abused their high-profile positions to solicit enormous sums of money for personal enrichment, including accepting bribes for military job promotions.

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​State media emphasized that the financial sums tied to the misconduct were “exceptionally large” and the overall impact “extremely egregious”.

​The latest expulsions underscore the relentless scope of President Xi’s ongoing anti-graft drive, which has heavily targeted the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in recent years to root out entrenched systemic corruption. While the immediate expulsions take effect immediately, they remain subject to formal ratification at an upcoming plenary session of the party’s Central Committee.

​Party organs defended the harsh punitive measures as a necessary reaffirmation that “there is absolutely no place for corrupt elements to hide within the military”.