&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "China expels top generals Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli over ‘disloyalty’, corruption")
China has removed two top military leaders, Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, from the Chinese Communist Party and the military, according to an official announcement on Monday, citing alleged disloyalty, corruption and other serious disciplinary breaches. The pair have been under investigation since January this year, and were removed from the state Central Military Commission in late August.
Zhang was once a vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the highest-ranking uniformed member of the Chinese Military Commission, only second to Chinese President Xi Jinping. He was also a member of the party's 24-member Politburo. Liu was a CMC member and the chief of staff of its Joint Staff Department.
“Investigation found that Zhang and Liu … transgressed red lines and bottom lines,” according to the statement. “They severely violated political discipline and rules by forming cliques and factions, demonstrating disloyalty and dishonesty to the party.”
Their offences included “taking advantage of their positions to seek promotional benefits for others in exchange for huge amounts of money”, “accepting gifts and money in violation of regulations”, “failing to fulfil political responsibilities for full and rigorous self-governance of the party” and “failing to properly educate and restrain their relatives and close staff”.
While the Chinese Communist Party framed this as a crackdown on “corruption”, the Western media are framing these removals as purges. Corruption allegations are not unusual against senior PLA officers, "what is unprecedented is the charges of disloyalty that include forming cliques and factions", said Dennis Wilder, a former CIA China analyst and a senior fellow at Georgetown University.
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In recent years, the anti-corruption campaign has seen the downfall of dozens in the PLA's top brass. Before Zhang and Liu, CMC members He Weidong, Li Shangfu and Miao Hua were also removed, leaving only two Xi himself and Zhang Shengmin out of the seven-member commission elected in 2022.
