China opens investigation against its highest-ranking general and Xi’s military ‘number two’ for corruption

Zhang, 75, is first vice president of the CMC, the highest governing body of the People’s Liberation Army (EPL), which places him in rank only behind Xi, and he is also one of the 24 members of the Politburo, the ruler’s second echelon of command. Communist Party (CCP).

Since October, Zhang served alongside another vice president, Zhang Shengminwho was promoted after serving as head of the anti-corruption department within the Army and who now remains the only uniform position of the Commission.

In a brief statement published on its official website, the Ministry adds that it has also opened investigations against another general, Liu Zhenliwhose position is that of head of the Department of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The dispatch, also published by the official news agency Xinhuadoes not offer details about the alleged violations committed by Zhang Youxia and Liu, although these types of announcements usually precede formal corruption charges.

The text only indicates that the decision was made “after deliberation” by the Central Committee of the CCP, from which both the Politburo and the highest decision-making body, the Standing Committee, emanate.

According to anonymous sources cited by the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post, the accusation against Zhang is for corruption and “not controlling” close collaborators and family members, and for not transferring the problems to the Party leadership in the first instance.

Both Zhang and Liu, decorated war heroes and the only members of the CMC leadership with actual combat experience – both participated in the campaigns against Vietnam in the late 1970s – had been absent from a CCP seminar chaired by Xi this week, sparking speculation about their whereabouts.

The purges continue

Since coming to power in 2012, Xi has promoted successive purges at the top of the Armed Forces, movements aimed both at combating corruption among their ranks and at reinforcing the loyalty of military commanders to the CCP and its leadership.

During Xi’s third term, which began in 2022, the CMC reduced the number of its members from seven to four as a result of these purges, the smallest structure since the end of Maoism in 1976.

Commanders of the different branches of the armed forces, political commissars and even defense ministers have been in the spotlight in recent years, with a climax in October of last year, when the Chinese authorities announced the expulsion of up to nine generals from the Army and the CCP.

The most famous case was that of He Weidongwho became ‘number 3’ in the Army after a meteoric rise in 2022 and who, after placing himself precisely behind Xi and Zhang in the military ranks, disappeared from the public scene in March 2025 before being formally accused of corruption.

He’s expulsion from the PLA and the CCP was historic, as he became the first uniformed vice president of the CMC to be deposed while in office in almost six decades: the last had been He Long (1967), in full Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).

Other highlights purged military leaders recently they were Miao Hua, an admiral considered close to Xi; Defense Ministers Wei Fenghe (2018-2023) and Li Shangfu (March-October 2023), and Rocket Force commanders Li Yuchao and Wang Houbin.