China ousts two senior generals in major military disciplinary shake-up

China has expelled two of its most senior military leaders, Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, from the Communist Party and the armed forces over allegations of disloyalty, corruption and other serious disciplinary violations, according to an official announcement on Monday, September 21.

Zhang was the second-ranking military official under President Xi Jinping, serving as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), China’s supreme military command body. He had long been regarded as Xi’s closest ally within the military. Liu was a CMC member and chief of staff of its Joint Staff Department.

Investigations into the two men were announced in January, and both were removed from the state CMC in late August. The expulsions were formally approved at a Politburo meeting chaired by Xi on Monday, state media reported. Their suspected criminal cases will be transferred to military prosecutors for examination and prosecution in accordance with the law, according to Reuters.

Since Xi came to power in 2012, China has pursued one of the most sweeping anti-corruption and disciplinary campaigns in its modern history. Millions of people across the country’s vast bureaucracy have been investigated to varying degrees, while scores of senior Communist Party, government and military officials have been removed from office or expelled.

The military has increasingly become a major target of the campaign in recent years. A series of investigations and expulsions has left only two active figures on the formerly seven-member CMC, including Xi, who serves as its chairman.

Chinese authorities accused Zhang and Liu of being disloyal to the party, abandoning its principles, failing to enforce strict party discipline and neglecting to supervise staff members and relatives.

Zhang and Liu "seriously violated political discipline and political rules, formed cliques and factions, and were disloyal and dishonest to the party," state-run Xinhua news agency cited official documents as saying.

The two men had "crossed red lines and basic limits," the documents said, adding that their "political and economic wrongdoings were intertwined, and corrupt self-enrichment coexisted with dereliction of duty and abuse of office".

"The sums involved were exceptionally large; the nature (of their conduct) was extremely serious and the impact extremely egregious," the documents said.

While allegations of corruption are not unusual in cases involving senior People’s Liberation Army officers, Dennis Wilder, a former CIA China analyst and senior fellow at Georgetown University, said the charges of disloyalty involving the formation of cliques and factions were unprecedented.

The allegations of disloyalty "harkens back to the days of Mao", Wilder said, adding that, if substantiated, they could indicate that Xi viewed the situation as a serious challenge to his authority and political position.

"It sends a sharp message to both the elders and the military about challenging Xi," he added.

Zhang was also a member of the ruling Communist Party’s elite Politburo and one of only a few senior Chinese military officers with combat experience.

"What's most remarkable about this particular moment is that in the 1980s Zhang Youxia was presented by the party and military propaganda apparatus as proof that yet another generation of young Chinese would prove loyal to the revolution," said Joseph Torigian, an expert in Chinese politics at American University.

"And now, Zhang is facing accusations of corruption and materialism that have brought down so many others of his cohort."

The expulsions come days before Xi is due to travel to the United States for talks with President Donald Trump and weeks before a key October Communist Party conclave focused on internal party governance and discipline.

By Tamilla Hasanova