Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s success in securing his third term was not as easy as it appeared. One of Xi’s allies, Zhang Youxia, played a critical role in helping him control the military and stabilize the situation.
Zhang Youxia was born in Beijing in July 1950. His father, Zhang Zongxun, was a general in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) military arm. During the war, he was inseparable from Mao Zedong as a bodyguard.
When the CCP seized power in 1949, he served as the deputy commander of the First Field Army. Mao experienced ups and downs in the inner-party struggle, but Zhang Zongxun always stood by Mao’s side. He served as the head of the military’s general logistics department during the turbulent years of the “Cultural Revolution” and retired from the political arena two years after the Cultural Revolution ended.
Providing Strong Support to Xi
Since the beginning of Xi Jinping’s second term, the CCP has been fighting both internally and externally, often with the backing of the military. Xi’s rule has been underpinned by Zhang Yuxiang’s support as a military leader.According to Hong Kong media Bowen Press, there was a major change in personnel in the CCP’s Central Security Bureau in March 2015. Under the arrangement of Xi Jinping and with the backing of the 38th Army, Zhang personally led a team to remove several key officials within the security bureau.
On Oct. 11, 2021, at a crucial time when Xi was breaking the CCP’s established rules and seeking re-election for his third term, the regime’s military newspaper, PLA Daily, suddenly published an article about a historical event during the Ming Dynasty, the “Restoration of Nangong.” The article seems to draw on the past to warn the military generals that if the “previous emperor” starts a coup d'état to regain the throne, you’d better stand by and do nothing.
China expert Zhang Tianliang believes that the article implies that although the military generals have now declared loyalty to Xi Jinping, as long as they remain neutral and allow Jiang Zemin or Zeng Qinghong to be restored, Jiang and Zeng would pardon them and allow them to keep their official ranks and wealth.
After the publication of this article in the PLA Daily, rumors that “Jiang Zemin and Zeng Qinghong will be restored” became widespread, and Beijing was shrouded with suspicion of a coup d'état. Faced with a dilemma, some military and political officials felt perplexed and uncertain about which stance to adopt.
Maybe it was under the influence of his father, who had spent his lifetime defending Mao, Zhang Youxia was good at making choices amid the CCP’s factional infightings. He quickly took a stand at this critical moment and helped Xi stabilize the situation.
The day after the Ming Dynasty article, Zhang spoke at a meeting on the ideological and political education of the CCP’s military on Oct. 12, in which he issued a stern warning to those in the military who were “eager to take actions,” saying that they must “get rid of ideological deviations, abandon outdated concepts and paths” and “conform to” Xi Jinping’s thought and requirements.
Zhang’s Military Career
Zhang grew up in a military compound. As a teenager, he studied at Jingshan School in Beijing, where the CCP’s young “princelings” gathered. According to a childhood playmate, at that time, not long after the Cultural Revolution broke out, Zhang was clamoring to be the successor of the Red Country while playing basketball.In December 1968, 18-year-old Zhang Youxia joined the army and became an ordinary soldier. That year, Liu Yuan, the son of former CCP President Liu Shaoqi, who was one year younger than him, was already homeless, so he voluntarily applied to go to the countryside. The following year, Liu Shaoqi was tortured to death.
Zhang’s family was able to enjoy a good life during the Cultural Revolution, which was inseparable from the fact that his father Zhang Zongxun took the “correct” line in every internal struggle within the top party members, while Liu’s family was ruined because they took the wrong line.
Shortly after the end of the Cultural Revolution, border wars broke out between China and Vietnam, two communist regimes, in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Zhang participated in the Sino-Vietnamese War twice. Due to his outstanding performance, he was quickly promoted.
Zhang has always been a firm supporter for the CCP to occupy Taiwan by force. Thirty years ago, shortly after the Sino-Vietnamese War came to an end, he suggested to Liu Huaqing, the then commander of the CCP Navy, to form a maritime commando force and deploy it in the South China Sea, so as to launch surprise attacks on the “invading” foreign warships. He also recommended himself as the first military commander of this commando force.
The CCP regards the South China Sea as its own backyard, and foreign military ships sailing freely there are considered “offenses” by the CCP.
In August 2000, he served as the major general of the Thirteenth Army, and in July 2007 he was promoted to lieutenant general. In July 2011, Hu Jintao awarded him the rank of general before retiring from office. The following year, Xi Jinping took over as the top leader of the CCP.
Five years later, in October 2017, Xi began his second term at the CCP’s 19th National Congress. At the time, Zhang was further promoted as vice-chairmen of the Central Military Commission and member of the Political Bureau of the CCP’s Central Committee.
Starting from this year, the CCP abandoned the policy of “keeping a low profile externally and developing the economy internally” that had been in place for the past 30 years.
On Dec. 17, 2019, the CCP’s first self-made aircraft carrier “Shandong Ship” was delivered to the Navy. Xi was full of ambition and brought a group of military and political officials to attend the commissioning ceremony, with Zhang, in his capacity as host of the ceremony and vice chairman of the military commission, following closely behind him.
In October 2022, the 72-year-old Zhang stayed on as the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and a member of the Politburo, an exception to the CCP’s retirement rule.
As a Red Princeling who shares similar views with Xi, his continuation in these key positions indicates that his position within the military is unshakeable and that Taiwan Straits are undoubtedly in a deep crisis.