Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (left) and member Liu Zhenli [EPA=Yonhap News]

The anti-corruption purge within the Chinese military, which has been ongoing for years, has targeted the highest echelons of the armed forces since the beginning of the year.

Zhang Youxia (75), Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission and Liu Zhenli (61), Chief of the Joint Staff Department and a member of the Central Military Commission, who is second in command in the Chinese military after President Xi Jinping, have been removed from their posts and are under investigation for "serious disciplinary violations."

The Ministry of National Defense announced on its website on the 24th that "Zhang Youxia, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Liu Zhenli, a member of the Central Military Commission and Chief of the Joint Staff Department, are suspected of serious disciplinary violations and illegal activities."

The Ministry of National Defense added, "After deliberation by the Party Central Committee, it has been decided to file a case against Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli and proceed with their review and investigation."

Although the Ministry of National Defense did not provide details about the specific charges against Vice Chairman Zhang and Chief of Staff Liu, the use of the phrase "serious disciplinary violations" suggests suspected corruption.

Vice Chairman Zhang is the highest-ranking military official to be purged in the anti-corruption campaign since President Xi Jinping came to power.

He is a member of the 24-member Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the center of Chinese power, and assists President Xi Jinping, who is the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. As the second-highest-ranking official in the Chinese military, overseeing 2 million troops, he holds the highest position among uniformed military personnel.

Vice Chairman Zhang, originally from Weinan, Shaanxi Province, has been considered a key figure in the Shaanxi faction within the military and a representative of the princeling faction, and has been seen as Xi Jinping's closest confidant in the military.

Vice Chairman Zhang's father, General Zhang Zongxun, was a hometown friend of former Vice Premier Xi Zhongxun and fought alongside him during the Chinese Civil War.

However, amidst the intensifying military purges of recent years, rumors of discord between President Xi and Vice Chairman Zhang have been persistent. On the 20th, Vice Chairman Zhang's absence from a seminar attended by high-ranking Party, government, and military officials at the ministerial level, along with Party Organization Department Minister Starre Feng, fueled speculation about his impending downfall.

Chief of Staff Liu, from Ruian, Hebei Province, is a man of ambition who rose from the ranks of ordinary soldiers to become the Chief of the Joint Staff Department and was also handpicked by President Xi.

He joined the army in 1983 and served for a long period in the Beijing Military Region. In 2014, he became the commander of the elite 82nd Group Army, responsible for the defense of Beijing. With Xi Jinping's trust, he served as Chief of Staff of the People's Armed Police Force and was promoted to Army Commander in June 2021. Within weeks, he was promoted from Lieutenant General to General, becoming the youngest commander in the history of the Chinese military.

Their last official appearance was at a ceremony for General promotions held on December 22nd of last month. Hong Kong's Sing Tao Daily reported that the Generals present at the event, excluding the two promotion candidates, included Vice Chairmen Zhang Youxia and Zhang Shengmin of the Central Military Commission, Chief of the Joint Staff Department Liu Zhenli, and Minister of National Defense Dong Jun.

Since 2023, China has been carrying out anti-corruption purges targeting high-ranking military officers.

Previously, former Vice Chairman He Weidong of the Central Military Commission, who was third in command in the Chinese military and also a member of the Political Bureau, and former Director Miao Hua of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission, who was fifth in command, were expelled from the Communist Party of China and the military for serious disciplinary and legal violations ahead of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee (20th Central Committee's Fourth Plenum) in October last year.

It is rare for high-ranking officials at the level of a Political Bureau member and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission to be purged in China.

Bloomberg News reported at the time of former Vice Chairman He Weidong's expulsion that he was the first member of the Political Bureau to be expelled since Sun Zhengcai, former Party Secretary of Chongqing, in 2017, and the first Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission to be expelled since He Long in 1967 during the Cultural Revolution.

With the fall of Vice Chairman Zhang and Chief of Staff Liu following He Weidong and Miao Hua last year, only two members, President Xi and Zhang Shengmin, who became Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission at the 20th Central Committee's Fourth Plenum last October, remain on the seven-member Central Military Commission that oversees the military.