China Removes 3 Senior Officers as Military Purges Escalate

The expanding purge has raised questions about the PLA’s short-term operational effectiveness.

Chinese People's Liberation Army members attend a ceremony to mark China's National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims in Nanjing, China, on Dec. 13, 2025. Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images

China has expelled three senior military officers from its Communist Party-controlled legislature, the latest sign that turbulence continues within the upper echelon of the country’s armed forces.

Gen. Zhang Hongbin, political commissar of the armed police, was stripped of his membership at the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s rubber-stamp legislature, according to a Dec. 27 notice published on the body’s website. No reason was given for the commanders’ exit.