Tibet Military District Commander Wang Kai “Taken Down” on the Mainland, Rumors of His Arrest Seem Confirmed

Police officers in front of the Potala Palace. (People News)

[People News] CCP leader Xi Jinping had barely returned from Tibet when Tibet Military District Commander Wang Kai was removed from Baidu’s search entries—basically confirming earlier online rumours that he had run into trouble. This fits the CCP’s usual anti-corruption pattern and logic.

On the afternoon of August 20, Xi Jinping received officers of colonel rank and above from the garrison in Lhasa. Wang Kai’s conspicuous absence sparked speculation. Also drawing attention was Fang Yongxiang, Director of the Central Military Commission (CMC) General Office and former colleague of the already-purged CMC Political Work Department head Miao Hua—he too was missing.

Political observers link the two cases, seeing them as signs of fierce infighting at the top of the PLA and a continuation of the campaign to “thoroughly eliminate the toxic influence” of the Miao Hua case.

Lianhe Zaobao (Aug. 22, 2025), citing informed sources, reported that when the CCP convenes its Fourth Plenary Session, it will deal with recently purged Central Committee members, including Tibet Military District Commander Wang Kai, who was absent from public events on August 20.

In recent days, some online media outlets inside China quietly “delisted” Wang Kai; certain pages now show 404 errors, and Baidu Baike has deleted his entry.

Early this morning (Aug. 25), searching “Tibet Military District” on Baidu Baike still shows Wang Kai as commander and Yuan Honggang as political commissar. But while Yuan’s entry still displays his detailed biography, clicking Wang Kai’s name brings up: “The page you visited does not exist.”

Previously, when rumours surfaced that PAP (People’s Armed Police) Commander Wang Chunning and Political Commissar Zhang Hongbing had fallen, their Baidu entries were likewise deleted. The same thing happened with Miao Hua and Zhang Yang after they were taken down.

So why has Wang Kai disappeared? Whose man is he? Does he have ties to the missing CMC Vice Chairman, He Weidong?

Wang Kai’s military career began in the 13th Group Army. At the end of 2013, he became commander of the 13th Group Army. In April 2017, he was promoted to Deputy Commander of the PLA Army in the Western Theatre Command. In March 2021, he became the Tibet Military District Commander. In October 2022, he was elected as a full member of the CCP’s 20th Central Committee.

It is worth noting that current CMC Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia served as Deputy Commander and then Commander of the 13th Group Army from March 1995 to December 2005—over a decade.

Looking at Wang Kai’s promotion record, he advanced during the tenure of former General Political Department Director Zhang Yang and former CMC Political Work Department head Miao Hua. Rising to the Tibet Military District Commander likely had a lot to do with Zhang Youxia, Zhang Yang, and Miao Hua. But his election to the Central Committee must have been “personally approved” by Xi Jinping himself, since Central Committee candidate lists require Xi’s sign-off. In short, Wang’s background is complicated: both Zhang and Xi were key to his promotions.

Now that he has suddenly been “delisted” on the mainland, some analysts believe he has become a casualty of the Xi–Zhang struggle. If Wang was implicated through Miao Hua, then he would be connected to missing Vice Chairman He Weidong, since both He and Miao were seen as Xi’s protégés. But Wang’s rise also seems tied to Zhang Youxia’s recommendation. Logically, the only way to make sense of this is that both Xi and Zhang regarded Wang as belonging to the other camp. And so, in their mutual fight, he became the “chicken killed to warn the monkey.” In the CCP’s opaque black-box politics, anything is possible. Under its dictatorial and non-transparent system, anyone can suddenly fall into misfortune tomorrow.

It is especially notable that Wang Kai’s delisting comes just before the CCP’s propaganda-laden September 3rd military parade. Normally, ahead of such parades, the leadership would need stability in the armed forces—any purge of big tigers would be put on hold. But now, it seems nothing matters anymore. This suggests the regime can no longer hold back—and perhaps serious trouble will erupt even during the parade itself.

This may mean that Xi and Zhang have already torn the façade of unity. The CCP’s military factional infighting is complex, and this episode is one more example.

(First published by People News)