Beijing Purges Chinese Leader Xi’s Ally From Top Military Ruling Body

The defense ministry removed the leadership list from its website amid ongoing purges that have led to the downfall of another member of its military elite.

Adm. Miao Hua (C), China's director of the political affairs department of the Central Military Commission, disembarks his aircraft after arriving at Pyongyang International Airport in North Korea on Oct. 14, 2019. Kim Won Jin/AFP via Getty Images

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has expelled a longtime ally of Chinese leader Xi Jinping from the military’s top decision-making body, the latest in a series of purges that have raised questions about the Party leader’s political control.

Adm. Miao Hua, who had overseen the military’s political loyalty since 2017, was removed from the Central Military Commission (CMC), one of China’s highest tiers of power that commands the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).