Top Chinese general removed from position—what prompted it?

By Muhammad MubashirPublished On 27 Jan 2026

The senior ranks of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) are in tatters.

The weekend purging of China's top general, Zhang Youxia, and another senior military officer, Gen Liu Zhenli, has left serious questions about what triggered the elite power struggles unfolding in the country - and what this means for China's warfighting capacity, whether it be any ambition to take Taiwan by force or engage in another major regional conflict.

Zhang, 75, was vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) - the Communist Party group headed by the country's leader Xi Jinping, which controls the armed forces.

The CMC, usually made up of around seven people, has now been whittled down to just two members - Xi and Gen Zhang Shengmin.

All others have been taken down in the "anti-corruption" crackdown following previous waves of detention.

The CMC is responsible for controlling millions of military personnel. It is so powerful that when Deng Xiaoping was the paramount leader of the country between 1979 and 1989, this was the only position he actually held.

That only Xi and one CMC general remain is unprecedented, according to Lyle Morris from the Asia Society Policy Institute.

"The PLA is in disarray," he told the BBC, adding that China's military now had "a major leadership void".

Asked what was really driving the culling of so many top generals, he said: "There are a lot of rumours floating around. We don't know, at this point, what is true and what is false… but it is certainly bad for Xi Jinping, for his leadership and control over the PLA."

Associate Professor Chong Ja Ian from the National University of Singapore also said he was not sure what the real reason was for Zhang's downfall but that there was a lot of speculation about it.

"Everything from leaking nuclear secrets to the United States to plotting a coup and factional infighting. There are even rumours of a gunfight in Beijing," he said.

"But Zhang and Liu's downfall along with the wild speculation highlight two things: that Xi remains unassailable and there are significant limits to information in Beijing which fuels uncertainty and feeds this speculation."

The official announcement that said Zhang and Liu were "under investigation" also said that they were accused of "serious violations of discipline and law", which is a euphemism for corruption.

Then the PLA Daily made this absolutely clear in an editorial, writing that this move showed the Communist Party's "zero tolerance" approach to "punishing corruption… no matter who it is or how high their position".