Xi Jinping’s Military Purges Impact China’s Military Leadership

A February report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies indicates that Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping has ousted a minimum of 100 high-ranking military figures since 2022, with additional instances transpiring subsequently.

Over the past two years, the frequency of removals and vanishings has surged, leading to a profound transformation of the Chinese military’s top brass during a period when the nation is striving to enhance its martial strength.

Recent examples of the purged officials include Gen. Zhang Youxia, Gen. Liu Zhenli, and Zhong Shaojun, who formerly served as the head of the General Office of the Central Military Commission. Many of these officials have been accused of corruption, with some facing trial.

Yun Sun, Senior Fellow and Director of the China Program at the Stimson Center, notes that the institutional bedrock of the military has been significantly affected by these leadership removals. She said that political allegiance to the top leader is prioritized over professional competence, and that internal political struggle has overtaken operational priorities as the most pressing agenda on a personal level.

Sun said that the chilling effect of the purges leaves no one safe, regardless of their rank or relationship with the top leader, and that social trust and morale have plummeted consequently.

She further observed that, although the Chinese military stays a powerful entity due to ongoing hardware modernization, restoring the general officers’ corps will be a lengthy task, and restoring confidence, achieving stable military governance, and returning the command-and-control apparatus to normal will require even more time.

In her assessment, the purges may have solidified the civilian leader’s grip on the armed forces, yet the military suffered significant damage throughout this period.