China Probes Senior Military Leaders Over Alleged Misconduct

By Staff, Agencies

China’s Defense Ministry has announced that an investigation has been launched into Zhang Youxia, the country’s most senior-ranking general.

Zhang, who sits on the Communist Party’s Politburo and serves as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission [CMC], the top military authority led by President Xi Jinping, is suspected of “serious violations of discipline and law,” the ministry said in a statement issued on Saturday. Another high-ranking officer, CMC member Liu Zhenli, is also being investigated for similar alleged offenses.

Aged 74, Zhang joined the People’s Liberation Army [PLA] in 1968 and remained in his post beyond the usual retirement age for senior military officials.

Several Western media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and The Times, have reported that Zhang may be suspected of leaking information related to China’s nuclear program to the United States and accepting substantial bribes in return for promotions. Chinese authorities have not confirmed these allegations.

State-backed newspaper Global Times referenced a Sunday editorial in the PLA Daily, which emphasized that officials found guilty of corruption would face punishment “without leniency,” regardless of their rank.

Since starting his third presidential term in 2023, Xi has stepped up anti-corruption efforts within the military and the Communist Party’s senior leadership, arguing that corruption hampers national development and erodes party discipline.

Over the past three years, numerous senior figures have been removed from office, including two CMC vice chairmen, three CMC members, a defense minister, and more than a dozen generals.

Addressing a meeting of the country’s top anti-corruption body on January 12, Xi said the party had achieved “solid progress” in improving conduct and tackling corruption, while cautioning that the challenge remained “grave and complex” and stressing that corrupt officials would have “no place to hide.”