(Noor Quarashi’s post from the DAILY MAIL UK on 25 January 2026.)
President
Xi's military purge claims biggest victim as he removes China's top general and
takes total charge of armed forces - fuelling fresh uncertainty over invading
Taiwan: President Xi has achieved total control of China's armed forces after
removing a top general over alleged 'violations of discipline and law'.
Zhang
Youxia is the latest high-ranking figure subjected to Xi Jinping's long-running
purge of military officials. The move is said to have fuelled fresh uncertainty
over the country's invasion of Taiwan amid doubts Mr Xi could pull off the
contingency with 'no senior leaders in charge'.
Gen Zhang, the operational leader of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) had survived several round of removals and was previously thought safe in his role as a close childhood friend of the president. The 75-year-old, who is a member of the ruling politburo, is also one of the only Chinese military commanders with combat experience - having fought in the 1979 Vietnam war.
Gen
Zhang's removal forms part of a broader so-called anti-corruption drive that
has punished more than 200,000 officials since Mr Xi came to power in 2012. Another
member of the commission, Liu Zhenli, has also been placed under investigation
by China's ruling Communist Party, a defence ministry statement said. Mr Liu is
the chief of staff of the commission's Joint Staff Department. The commission
is the top military body in China.
President Xi now has achieved total control of China's armed forces after removing a top general over alleged 'violations of discipline and law'. Experts say the removal of Gen Zhang is likely to delay any attempt to seize Taiwan by force.
The
general was thought of as central to modernisation efforts in the Chinese armed
forces given his role as senior vice-chairman of the Central Military
Commission (CMC). Lyle Morris, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy
Institute, a Washington-based think tank, likened President Xi's actions to a
'complete cleaning of the house... the biggest purge in Chinese history since
1949'.
Mr
Morris added the removal could leave the PLA in 'disarray'. He told The
Telegraph: 'We can all sleep soundly for years. There is no way they could pull
off the Taiwan contingency with no senior leaders in charge.'
The
Communist Party expelled the other vice chair of the commission, He Weidong,
last October and replaced him with commission member Zhang Shengmin. 'There is
no way they could pull off the Taiwan contingency with no senior leaders in
charge,' expert Lyle Morris said.
And
in 2024, the party expelled two former defence ministers over corruption
charges. The CMC has now been reduced to its smallest size in history, at just
two members - including Mr Xi and Zhang Shengmin, the military's
anti-corruption watchdog who was promoted to CMC vice-chair in October.
Rumours circulated over the fate of Generals Zhang and Liu on Tuesday after they were absent from a televised party seminar. One source familiar with the case told the South China Morning Post that General Zhang had been accused of corruption, including failing to control his own family members.
Christopher
K Johnson, a former CIA analyst who follows elite Chinese politics, said
Beijing is capable of pumping out impressive, hi-tech weaponary. However, he
said the country's weakness is its lack of 'software' able to conduct
large-scale military manoeuvres. But Mr Morris added the removals in fact
suggested President Xi has a 'lot of support in the party and is fully in
charge'.
Last
year, rumours swirled in Beijing of a power struggle between Zhang and Xi. Gen
Zhang was said to be less bullish than President Xi about China's prospects of
success in seizing Taiwan.
