Xi’s Military Purge Exposes Deep Divisions Over Taiwan and Command Authority

Insiders say the removal of two senior generals reflects internal resistance over Taiwan strategy, pandemic leadership, and Xi’s tightening grip on the PLA.

Military delegates walk on Tiananmen Square as they arrive at the opening session of the Chinese Communist Party's five-yearly Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on November 8, 2012. The week-long congress, held every five years, will end with a transition of power to Vice President Xi Jinping, who will govern for the coming decade amid growing pressure for reform of the communist regime's iron-clad grip on power. AFP PHOTO / Ed Jones Photo credit should read Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images

Beijing on Jan. 24 announced that Central Military Commission (CMC) Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia and Joint Staff Department Chief Liu Zhenli were under investigation, a move quickly followed by an unusually harsh editorial in the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) official newspaper.

The severity of the editorial’s language, coupled with the political stature of Zhang in particular, has led analysts and military insiders to view the case not as a routine anti-corruption action but as a watershed moment in Xi’s ongoing effort to consolidate absolute control over the military amid mounting internal resistance.

Pandemic Anger Among the Ranks

According to a PLA insider who spoke to The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, the conflict between Xi and Zhang was not sudden but the result of years of accumulated resentment—much of it from  China’s draconian COVID-19 lockdown era.