Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign has led China’s senior military chief | Xi Jinping News

Taipei, Taiwan – As thousands of Chinese government officials gathered in Beijing this month for China’s annual legislative meetings, known as the “Two Sessions,” at least a dozen active and retired military officers were absent from the proceedings.

Among those absent is Gen. Zhang Yuxia, who has been under investigation for “suspected serious violations of discipline and law” since late January, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency said.

Zhang is one of the highest-ranking officials caught up in the sweeping anti-corruption sweep that has characterized Xi Jinping’s long tenure as president and chairman of the Chinese Communist Party.

Xi launched the initiative shortly after coming to power in 2012, launching an “unprecedented anti-corruption storm” targeting “both high-flying ‘tigers’ and low-flying ‘flies'” across China’s state, military and Communist Party apparatus, according to a Xinhua report last year.

According to Chih Chung, assistant research fellow at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, recent government reports indicate that Xi has undertaken a renewed sweep through the military leadership of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). This time, Xi’s trap seems to be wider, he said.

It now includes members of China’s Central Military Commission as well as operational commanders and military executive bodies, political commissars and commanders of the PLA’s five military theaters and various military branches, he said.

Strengthening the PLA ahead of its anniversary

According to China’s official military newspaper last month, corruption remains a priority for President Xi.

“Corruption is the biggest cancer erosive effectiveness of fighting. The more thoroughly we eliminate the hidden dangers, the more promising the century-long war against corruption will be,” the paper reads, according to the English translation.

The PLA’s latest work report, released in two sessions, equates the fight against corruption with other goals such as “political correction” and ensuring loyalty.

The anti-corruption drive comes as the PLA prepares to mark its 100th anniversary in August 2027, taking stock of its decades-long modernization drive.

Tristan Tang, a non-resident Vasey fellow at the Honolulu-based Pacific Forum research institute, told Al Jazeera that Zhang and other military targets reflect Xi’s long-standing dissatisfaction with the handling of the armed forces.

According to Tang, the Chinese leader renewed his focus on the military between 2016 and 2017. He said the latest removal should be seen as an extension of that campaign.

“My interpretation is that the leadership has discovered long-standing problems in the PLA personnel system. This may explain why so many generals and admirals have been removed or investigated – because many positions remain unfilled – because officers across the system, possibly even senior colonels, are being re-evaluated and investigated,” Tang told Al Jazeera.

“Consequently, when a unit commander is purged, it does not necessarily mean that there is a problem with that unit; the problem may be caused by actions taken at the previous post,” he said.

‘Missing or possibly purged’

Zhang and his ally, General Liu Zhenli, are the two high-profile cases so far, but dozens of officials have been removed in recent years.

According to one estimate by the US-based CSIS China Power Project, about 100 senior officers in the PLA have been “purged or potentially purged” by 2022.

The list includes 36 generals and lieutenant generals and 65 officers “missing or presumably purged” based on their absence from key meetings, according to a late February report.

Although corruption has been cited as the official reason in many cases, security experts across East Asia are trying to assess what this means for one of the world’s most powerful militaries.

Zhang and Liu, who were removed at the same time, are members of China’s powerful Central Military Commission, where Xi cleaned house last year, said Kunihiko Miyake, a former Japanese diplomat and research director at the Tokyo-based Cannon Institute of Global Studies.

“Broadly speaking, since last year, several senior officials of the Chinese Central Military Commission have been expelled, and only two of the seven members remain, including President Xi Jinping,” Miyake wrote, according to an English translation.

“This is an extraordinary situation, as is the loss or absence of the Japanese Chief of Joint Operations and Commander in Chief of Staff, or the Chief of Joint Chiefs of Staff and Commander in Chief of the United States Indo-Pacific Command,” he said.

In-bum Chun, a retired South Korean lieutenant general, told Al Jazeera that the changes raise questions about the overall “internal health” of the military.

“If the layoffs are primarily anti-corruption measures, they may point to deeper institutional problems within the system. If they are primarily political, they may reflect concerns in Beijing about loyalty at senior levels,” Chun said.

“In both cases, frequent leadership disruptions can create uncertainty within any military organization. While this can strengthen central political control, it can also affect morale and internal trust among officers,” he continued.

China’s ‘growing determination’ towards Taiwan

The shakeup in PLA leadership has been closely watched in Taiwan and has raised questions about China’s intentions.

China has promised to annex Taiwan, a democracy of 23 million people, either by peace or by force. The United States has separately pledged to help Taiwan defend itself under the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, although it has not committed troops.

According to an oft-repeated estimate by retired US Admiral Philip Davidson, the PLA will be able to launch military operations against Taiwan by 2027.

William Yang, senior analyst for Northeast Asia at Crisis Group, said China’s latest government work report released earlier this month at the National People’s Congress in Beijing indicates that annexation of Taiwan is a top priority.

He told Al Jazeera that the report “shows Beijing’s growing confidence in the overall trend of cross-Strait dynamics, which it believes is trending in its favor and reflects its growing determination to accelerate preparations for unification, including through more coercive methods, in the coming years.”

Security experts told Al Jazeera that the leadership shakeup did not appear to affect China’s military operations around Taiwan, although they cautioned that they were still assessing the fallout.

According to Alexander Huang, president of the Council of Strategic and Wargaming Studies in Taipei, the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command held “Justice Mission 2025” military exercises around Taiwan in late December 2025, with Zhang and others under investigation or already removed.

“This indicates that the PLA’s training and exercise system has not been significantly disrupted,” he said.

PLA “joint combat readiness patrols” continue until 2026, as well as “gray zone activities” intended to threaten Taiwan or test its military resources.