After the sudden downfall of two of China’s most senior military leaders, Beijing has largely evaded questions from foreign journalists, exposing strains in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) information control and propaganda efforts.
On Jan. 24, China’s Ministry of National Defense announced that Zhang Youxia, a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and Liu Zhenli, a fellow CMC member, were under investigation. Late that night, the military’s official newspaper, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Daily, published a sharply worded editorial condemning both men in language rarely used against military leaders of their rank.
