Xi Jinping Reduced to “Commander Without Troops” — Mutiny Already Happened, Coup in Progress or Likely

Dark clouds hang over Tiananmen Square in Beijing. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

[People News] On August 21, Xi Jinping returned to Beijing from Tibet. When Xi posed for a group photo with the officers and soldiers stationed in Tibet, the Director of the Central Military Commission (CMC) General Office, Fang Yongxiang, and the Commander of the Tibet Military District, Wang Kai, were conspicuously absent. At present, the military has undergone a massive personnel collapse: no fewer than 44 generals have fallen from power or are rumoured to be under investigation, even leaving the post of commander for the upcoming September 3 military parade vacant. Xi Jinping now appears to have become a “commander without an army.”

On August 20, Xi travelled to Tibet to attend the 60th anniversary celebration of the Tibet Autonomous Region, during which he met with senior officers (colonel and above) stationed in Lhasa. According to pro-Beijing Sing Tao Daily, based on CCTV footage, Xi sat in the front row centre for the group photo, with CMC Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Zhang Shengmin to his left and Tibet Military District Political Commissar Yuan Honggang to his right. Next to Zhang Shengmin sat Major General Qiu Yang, Deputy Director of the CMC General Office. But missing were Fang Yongxiang, Director of the CMC General Office, and Tibet Military District Commander Wang Kai.

Independent commentator Cai Shenkun said on the Elite Forum program that the CCP’s top-level struggle has not ended with the conclusion of the Beidaihe meeting.

He predicted that before the Fourth Plenum—where major personnel decisions will be made—there will be fierce political bloodshed inside the Party. In this period, many senior officials have fallen, including both Xi’s allies and non-Xi officials, such as the recently dismissed Inner Mongolia Party Deputy Secretary and Chairman of the autonomous region, Wang Lixia.

Cai pointed out that when the CMC Chairman (Xi) inspects troops or meets military officers, the CMC General Office Director is always supposed to be present, yet only the deputy appeared this time. Likewise, the Tibet Military District Commander, as well as the commanders and political commissars of the Western Theatre Command, should also have been present. Their absence indicates major personnel problems in the military.

“On one hand, this shows the military purge is not yet finished and will continue. On the other hand, it also suggests that Xi Jinping has become isolated in the military. As CMC Chairman, he now looks like a ‘commander without soldiers,’ with little influence, especially over the army.”

How badly has the PLA been hollowed out by repeated purges?

On August 22, independent commentator Du Zheng published an article in Up Media. According to his tally, of the 79 generals promoted to full general under Xi, 10 have officially fallen or been dismissed, and at least 16 more are rumoured to be under investigation. That makes a total of 26—more than one-third of all Xi’s promoted generals. Most of these generals are current Central Committee members.

The list includes: former Defence Ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu; former Air Force Commander Ding Laihang; two former Rocket Force commanders, Li Yuchao and Zhou Yaning; and CMC Political Work Department Director Miao Hua. Others dismissed before retirement age include former Strategic Support Force Commander Ju Qiansheng and former Rocket Force Political Commissar Xu Zhongbo.

Earlier retirements/demotions: former Southern Theatre Command Political Commissar Wei Liang and former Guangzhou Military Region Commander Xu Fenlin (before 2018).

Those long missing and rumoured to be under investigation include: CMC Vice Chairman He Weidong, former Army Political Commissar Qin Shutong, Navy Political Commissar Yuan Huazhi, Western Theatre Command Commander Wang Haijiang, Eastern Theatre Command Commander Lin Xiangyang, former Southern Theatre Commander Wang Xiubin, CMC Political and Legal Affairs Commission Secretary Wang Renhua, CMC Political Work Department Executive Deputy Director He Hongjun, Armed Police Commander Wang Chunning, Armed Police Political Commissar Zhang Hongbing, Rocket Force Commander Wang Houbin, among others.

Also absent from the late-July National Defence Ministry’s August 1st reception: Navy Commander Hu Zhongming, Army Commander Li Qiaoming, alleged Central Theatre Command Commander Wang Qiang, and Central Theatre Command Political Commissar Xu Deqing.

In addition, social media in May reported that Northern Theatre Commander Huang Ming was taken away.

Clearly fallen lieutenant generals include: Zhang Zhenzhong (former Rocket Force Deputy Commander and CMC Joint Staff Deputy Chief), Li Chuangeng (former Rocket Force Deputy Commander), Sun Jinming (former Rocket Force Chief of Staff), Zhang Yulin (former CMC Equipment Development Department Deputy Director), Ju Xinchun (former CMC Equipment Development Department Deputy Director and Southern Theater Navy Commander), You Haitao (former Army Deputy Commander), Li Pengcheng (former Southern Theater Navy Commander), Deng Zhiping (former Army Deputy Commander), and Li Zhizhong (Central Theater Deputy Commander).

Three fallen major generals: Lü Hong (former Rocket Force Equipment Department Director), Rao Wenmin (former CMC Equipment Development Department Deputy Director), and Li Tongjian (former Rocket Force Equipment Department Deputy Director).

Other cases: Rocket Force Deputy Commander Liu Guangbin went “missing” long ago; former Rocket Force Deputy Commander Wu Guohua hanged himself; former Strategic Support Force Deputy Commander Shang Hong disappeared before the 20th Party Congress.

There are also rumours about retired generals, such as former Army Commander Han Weiguo and the first CMC Logistics Support Department head Zhao Keshi. If one adds former National Defence University Political Commissar Liu Yazhou (son-in-law of former PRC President Li Xiannian), who was secretly sentenced after retirement, then, since the 20th Party Congress, military purges have taken down a long line of officers at all levels.

By Du Zheng’s tally: 26 full generals, 9 lieutenant generals, 3 major generals, plus another 6 senior figures—making a total of 44 fallen military leaders.

In addition, by tradition, the commander of the Beijing Military Region (after reforms, Central Theatre Command) usually serves as commander-in-chief of the National Day military parade. But this tradition may now be broken. Alleged Central Theatre Commander Wang Qiang and Political Commissar Xu Deqing both missed the August 1 reception. Du Zheng noted that while no dismissal announcements have been made, their absence from such an important event—given the CCP’s opaque handling of senior officials—strongly suggests they are in trouble. That would mean the upcoming Beijing parade may not even have a commander-in-chief.

In December 2023, analysts at the Canadian think tank Cercius Group, which focuses on Chinese elite politics, said: “So far, in our investigation of the PLA Rocket Force, we have tracked about 70 people who were taken away.”

Exiled legal scholar Yuan Hongbing earlier received insider information that after Miao Hua’s fall, he confessed the names of as many as 1,300 military personnel, including nearly 100 generals of full or lieutenant rank.

Independent scholar Wu Zuolai, closely watching CCP politics, wrote on August 15 in Taiwan’s Central Radio (RTI) that a “mutiny” inside the PLA has already occurred, and a “coup” is underway.

Cai Shenkun concluded that the situation during Xi’s meeting with the Tibet-based troops confirms the possibility that such signs are emerging in the current political scene.

Du Zheng stressed that due to the CCP’s black-box operations, it is impossible to know how many military officials have actually been purged, or how they will be dealt with. But these phenomena confirm: “In the CCP, there is no official without corruption, no official without rot, no cure—and the military is even more rotten.”

(First published by People News) △