The Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China originally consisted of 7 members, but now only Xi Jinping and Zhang Shengmin remain. (Video screenshot)
[People News] Rumors that Zhang Youxia, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), had been detained for investigation have circulated for more than half a year, but had not previously been officially confirmed by the CCP. On August 28, Xinhua News Agency confirmed that the 24th session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) decided to remove Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli from their positions as Vice Chairman and member of the state CMC; at the same time, it stripped Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli, Ju Qiansheng, and Zhong Shaojun of their status as NPC deputies.
In response to this highly shocking and major military-political personnel shake-up, Western governments, mainstream media, and strategic think tanks have reacted with intense attention and strong shock.
As the second most powerful figure in the CCP military after Xi Jinping, Zhang Youxia—one of the few senior officers with actual combat experience and long regarded as deeply trusted—fell from power along with Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli, Ju Qiansheng, and Zhong Shaojun, who had been seen as a close confidant of Xi within the military, this has caused a major impact within Western political and security analysis circles.
Mainstream Media: High-Level Political Purge Enters the “Core Circle,” Intensifying Military Instability
Reports from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times note that Western headline analyses generally believe this marks that the CCP’s military purge has escalated from targeting defense ministers (including Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe) and Rocket Force leadership to reaching the very core of military decision-making at the highest level. Zhang Youxia’s longstanding family ties with Xi Jinping, and yet his inability to avoid dismissal, indicate that Xi’s doubts about military loyalty have reached a peak, even at the cost of breaking established norms and factional balance.
The Financial Times pointed out that Zhong Shaojun, who long served as Director of the General Office of the CMC, was regarded as Xi Jinping’s “eyes and ears” in the military. His removal has led Western observers to conclude that this purge may go beyond simple “anti-corruption” or graft cases, involving deeper power struggles within the military or even security leaks.
U.S. Government and Defense Intelligence: Closely Assessing the PLA’s “Command Chain and Combat Capability”
The U.S. military and agencies such as the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) would immediately assess that the simultaneous removal of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli (Chief of the Joint Staff Department) signals a severe vacuum and disruption in the PLA’s top operational command structure. Western military experts believe this will significantly undermine morale and confidence among officers and troops in the highest leadership.
The U.S. strategic community is further convinced that earlier intelligence assessments—citing serious corruption within the PLA, issues with equipment quality, and infighting among senior leaders—are accurate.
Strategic Think Tanks: Reassessing the Taiwan Strait Situation and the “2027 Military Modernization Goal”
Will the removal of Zhang Youxia and others reduce short-term risks of military adventurism in the Taiwan Strait? Think tanks in Washington (such as CSIS and the Brookings Institution) largely assess that amid turbulence at the top military leadership and a climate of fear among senior officers, the PLA’s capability and willingness to launch large-scale cross-strait operations or high-risk military actions in the near term will be significantly weakened. No one would want to bear the risk of operational failure amid a collapsing command chain.
Some hawkish analysts hold the opposite concern, warning that if Xi Jinping completely purges experienced senior commanders capable of offering objective military advice (such as Zhang Youxia), he may be left surrounded only by compliant “yes-men.” This “information echo chamber” could instead increase the long-term risk of conflict due to high-level miscalculation.
Political Risk Premium Further Rises
Western financial circles and multinational corporations interpret this as a further escalation of China’s internal political risk and uncertainty. The frequent “disappearances and removals” of top military leaders highlight the extreme opacity of the power structure, leading foreign investors to downgrade their assessments of China’s political stability.
Overall, Western societies generally view this as one of the most dramatic “earthquakes” within the CCP military in recent years. At the same time, it exposes Xi Jinping’s insistence on absolute control over the military—at the cost of completely destabilizing the PLA’s top leadership and revealing a deep crisis of trust within China’s military system. △
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