Purged Chinese General Retains Key Positions on Paper Amid CCP Infighting: Insiders

CCP leader Xi Jinping is encountering resistance from senior generals after he purged most of the top military leaders, according to an insider.

Zhang Youxia, China's vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (center), arrives for a group photo before the opening ceremony of the 19th Western Pacific Naval Symposium in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China, on April 22, 2024. Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images

As Beijing’s rubber-stamp National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee concluded its meeting on April 30, Gen. Zhang Youxia, who was purged from his role by regime leader Xi Jinping in January, still holds his representative position in the NPC and the official roles in the Communist Party and the Central Military Commission—at least according to the regime’s official website.

However, Zhang hasn’t been seen in public since mid-January, and he was absent from the meeting.