Xi Moves Against Top Generals Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli

China's Ministry of National Defense announced on Jan. 24 that it is investigating Gen. Zhang Youxia, 75, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Gen. Liu Zhenli, 61, for suspected "serious violations of discipline and law," officials said.

The inquiry matters because Zhang is a Politburo member long seen as President Xi Jinping's closest military ally and his removal follows Oct. 2025 expulsions of nine senior People's Liberation Army officers that depleted the commission's active membership, analysts said.

Sources familiar with a closed-door military briefing alleged Zhang was accused of leaking core technical data on China's nuclear weapons to U.S. intelligence and of accepting bribes, allegations that could not be independently verified, the sources said.

The People's Liberation Army Daily published an editorial on Jan. 25 accusing Zhang and Liu of "seriously trampling on and undermining the system of ultimate responsibility resting with the Central Military Commission chairman," state media reported.

Analysts including Neil Thomas of the Asia Society Policy Institute said the purge may make China's threat to Taiwan weaker in the short term but stronger in the long term, and officials and analysts said party investigators typically move from internal probes to expulsions or criminal charges ahead of the 2027 Communist Party Central Committee selection.