JAKARTA - The Chinese government is investigating two senior military officers of the Central Military Commission (CMC) for alleged serious disciplinary and legal violations.
The move was described by local media as the biggest purge of the Chinese military since the era of Mao Zedong.
The two high-ranking officers being investigated are members of the Politburo and Deputy Chairman of the CMC Zhang Youxia and other CMC members, Liu Zhenli.
"Members of the Politburo and Deputy Chairman of the CMC Zhang Youxia and members of the CMC and Head of the CMC Joint Staff Department Liu Zhenli are suspected of serious disciplinary and legal violations," Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Jiang Bin said in a video release, quoted by local media Via Antara, Monday, January 26.
The Politburo is the core institution of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which plays a role in determining the direction of national policy. This institution is composed of 25 party elites, including President Xi Jinping, and is the second highest decision-maker after the Standing Committee of the Politburo.
Zhang Youxia is one of two vice chairmen of the CMC who sits on the Politburo. The other vice chairman, He Weidong, was sentenced and stripped of his membership of the military in October 2025 for serious party discipline violations and crimes of office.
With the investigation of Zhang and Liu, the CMC, which is China's highest military body, now practically only leaves two active figures, namely President Xi Jinping as chairman and Zhang Shengmin as vice chairman.
Zhang Shengmin is known as a general of the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLA) as well as Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the highest anti-corruption institution of the CPC.
CMC itself is part of the PKC structure, which is made up of the most senior military leaders and is fully responsible for the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Chinese media described the investigation of Zhang and Liu as the highest case ever to touch the military elite and the largest "general purge" since the end of Mao Zedong's rule.
Zhang Youxia is known as a figure close to President Xi Jinping. Both are the sons of Chinese revolutionary figures and fought in China's northwest during the civil war.
Zhang also had direct combat experience in the border war with Vietnam in 1979 and was again involved in the battle in 1984.
Meanwhile, 61-year-old Liu Zhenli serves as head of the PLA's Joint Staff Department, the agency that oversees military operations, intelligence, and troop training.
Both Zhang and Liu only took their positions on March 12, 2023, coinciding with the 14th National People's Congress (NPC).
President Xi Jinping previously stressed the importance of limiting power within a more planned and effective institutional framework, as well as continuing the anti-corruption campaign to support the achievement of the 15th Five-Year Plan targets for the period 2026-2030.
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