Xi the Destroyer – Foreign Affairs

Lead

On January 24, Chinese leader Xi Jinping removed General Zhang Youxia from the Central Military Commission, a striking purge that exposed deep distrust between the Communist Party leadership and the People’s Liberation Army. Zhang, 75, had been a close ally of Xi for decades and had been allowed to stay beyond the unofficial retirement age; his abrupt ouster signals a new phase in Xi’s campaign to remake the PLA. Officials cited political and corruption problems as the official rationale, but analysts see the move as both a consolidation of control and a preparatory step before the next party congress. The spectacle reinforced a core message of Xi’s rule: personal ties offer no immunity against removal when party control or political calculation demand it.

Key Takeaways

• On January 24, Xi removed General Zhang Youxia from the Central Military Commission, ending a long personal and political alliance between the two men.
• Zhang, age 75, had been retained and promoted past the unofficial retirement benchmark of 68, making the sudden purge unexpected by many observers.
• The official explanation cited political failings and corruption that allegedly damaged combat capability; critics view those claims as likely pretextual.
• At the start of Xi’s third term in 2023 there were seven CMC members; following successive purges only one uniformed member plus Xi remain from that cohort.
• Xi previously overhauled the military command in 2012–2013 and joined the CMC as vice chairman in fall 2010; this removal appears as a culmination of a decade-long drive to politicize and control the PLA.
• The timing—about 18 months before the next Party Congress and during a relatively calm cross-strait period—suggests Xi is reshaping the military ahead of potential future contingencies.
• Removing senior officers with deep service networks leaves Xi with fewer experienced military candidates, increasing the likelihood of civilian appointments to the CMC.

Background

Xi Jinping has pursued an extended campaign to tighten the Communist Party’s grip on the armed forces while attempting to professionalize key elements of the PLA. Concerns that security services could prioritize institutional interest over party rule became acute for Xi after the Arab Spring, prompting reforms that elevated party loyalty as a criterion equal to, or sometimes above, technical competence. The PLA’s Equipment Development Department, which Zhang once led, has long been associated with procurement irregularities; previous heads of that department were purged in earlier anticorruption moves.

Xi’s anticorruption drive gained prominence after the 2012 downfall of Bo Xilai and has been used repeatedly to remove rivals and reshape the party and state organs. In 2022 Xi demonstrated his willingness to make political scenes public, as when his predecessor Hu Jintao was escorted from a high-profile party event. That spectacle signaled Xi’s readiness to eliminate even ceremonial opposition and consolidate authority across party and military hierarchies.

Main Event

On January 24 the PLA’s official outlets announced Zhang Youxia’s dismissal from the Central Military Commission, citing sustained political and corruption problems that allegedly undermined party control and combat development. Zhang had been permitted to stay and was promoted in 2022 despite being above the unofficial retirement threshold, a move that underscored his previous closeness to Xi and heightened surprise at the abrupt fall.

The public nature of the removal was notable. By presenting the decision in official military channels, Xi made Zhang’s exit both an administrative action and a political signal. Observers compared the removal to earlier public purges under Xi, emphasizing the leader’s comfort with high-profile demonstrations of authority aimed at deterring dissent within the armed forces.

Officials framed the purge as necessary to protect the party’s absolute leadership of the military and to safeguard combat readiness, but outside analysts treat corruption charges with skepticism given the PLA’s well-documented procurement vulnerabilities. Some analysts have suggested Zhang may have simply outlived his strategic usefulness to Xi, who has already removed large swaths of the prior generation of officers.

Analysis & Implications

Zhang’s removal tightens Xi’s control over the PLA and accelerates the replacement of a generation of commanders with figures more reliably identified with party interests. Politicization of the military has been Xi’s explicit objective: ensuring that armed forces would act as guarantors of party rule in crises may be prioritized even when it conflicts with conventional measures of operational modernization. The purge suggests Xi values loyalty and political reliability at least as highly as, if not above, technical military competence.

The personnel vacuum created by mass removals has three consequential effects. First, Xi gains freedom to repopulate the Central Military Commission with allies or civilians who strengthen party oversight. Second, it reduces the pool of experienced senior officers available for command, potentially complicating attempts to sustain technical modernization or institutional knowledge. Third, the elevation of civilians to the CMC would signal a structural rebalancing that favors party control over service autonomy.

Externally, the move feeds into cross-strait and US-China calculations. With U.S. policy signals mixed and Taiwanese politics shifting, Xi appears to be using a period of relative calm to ensure the PLA is not only capable but politically reliable. That preparation does not guarantee immediate kinetic action, but it increases the odds that any military option would be staffed by commanders selected for loyalty to Xi and the party rather than independent service prerogatives.

Comparison & Data

The table above illustrates how quickly the CMC leadership has been pared down. With several senior officers removed, Xi faces a shortage of familiar, experienced commanders to refill top posts, increasing the likelihood he will appoint trusted civilians or younger officers whose careers are tied to him. That shift would have long-term consequences for civil-military relations and for the kinds of leaders who control China’s military strategy.

Reactions & Quotes

Official channels presented the action as necessary for party discipline and military effectiveness. Independent analysts emphasized the political calculus and the broader pattern of personnel control.

Xi’s campaign has no off-limit zones

PLA Daily (official military periodical)

It’s up to Xi

Donald Trump (quoted on U.S. posture toward Taiwan)

Observers in Beijing and Washington parsed those statements differently. State outlets framed the removal as disciplined housekeeping; foreign analysts read it as both a consolidation measure and a preparatory step for future cross-strait contingencies. Reactions in Taiwan and among U.S. policy experts focused on succession implications and the composition of any future CMC appointees.

Unconfirmed

• Whether Zhang actively plotted against Xi or merely fell out of favor through erosion of trust remains unproven.
• Specific allegations of corruption tied to Zhang’s tenure in procurement have not been fully documented in public evidence.
• It is unconfirmed which individuals Xi will select to fill CMC vacancies and whether civilians will outnumber uniformed officers going forward.

Bottom Line

Zhang Youxia’s January 24 dismissal is a dramatic statement about the limits of personal loyalty in Xi Jinping’s China and the priority the leader places on party control of the military. The purge completes a decade-long effort to break institutional independence in the PLA and to reshape its top ranks to match Xi’s expectations for political reliability and operational performance.

In practical terms, Xi now has latitude to remake the Central Military Commission before the next party congress, but he also faces higher long-term risks: a depleted bench of senior officers could weaken institutional knowledge and technical continuity. The real test will be whether Xi can translate personnel control into a military that simultaneously demonstrates partisan fidelity and the competence to execute complex operations should political circumstances demand it.

Sources

• Foreign Affairs (analysis/opinion)
• PLA Daily (official military periodical)