Telecom Purge in China Points to Factional War Inside the CCP, Analysts Say

At least 16 executives at the state-owned telecom giant have been placed under investigation since the start of 2025, with six in the past month alone.

A China Telecom booth at an exhibition during China Internet Conference in Beijing on July 13, 2021. Tingshu Wang/Reuters

Chinese authorities have placed at least six China Mobile executives under investigation in the past month, the latest wave in a sweeping purge of the state-owned telecom system.

Analysts recently told The Epoch Times that the move is driven less by anti-corruption goals than by a factional fight over control of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surveillance apparatus.