China Expels Two Top Generals From Communist Party Over Disloyalty and Corruption

The Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party has expelled the military's highest-ranking uniformed officer and his chief of staff, transferring their cases to military prosecutors who will now prepare formal charges. The expulsions, approved on Monday, require final ratification by the Party's Central Committee when it convenes its next plenary session.[5][6]

General Zhang Youxia, 75, served as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and was widely regarded as President Xi Jinping's closest military ally. General Liu Zhenli served as a CMC member and chief of the Joint Staff Department, overseeing the People's Liberation Army's operational planning. Both men had been under investigation since January 2026 and were quietly removed from the state CMC in August.[1][2]

State media reports, citing official disciplinary documents, accuse the generals of forming "cliques and factions" and being "disloyal and dishonest to the party." The notices state that Zhang and Liu abused their positions to secure promotions for others in exchange for "exceptionally large sums of money," while failing to supervise their own relatives and staff.[3][5]

The dual purge leaves the seven-member Central Military Commission—the supreme command body of the Chinese armed forces—with only two active members from its original October 2022 slate. Those remaining are Xi Jinping, who chairs the commission, and General Zhang Shengmin, the secretary of the military's discipline inspection commission.[1][2]

Five members of that original slate, including former Defense Minister Li Shangfu and former CMC members He Weidong and Miao Hua, have now been removed. The sweeping anti-corruption campaign targeting the military-industrial complex and the armed forces began accelerating in mid-2023, systematically dismantling the upper echelons of the defense establishment.[1]

Accusations of faction-building carry specific structural weight within the Chinese system, as they imply the cultivation of personal patronage networks outside the centralized chain of command. The explicit charges of political disloyalty mark a sharp escalation from standard corruption probes, underscoring the leadership's demand for absolute adherence to Party directives.[5][6]

The timing of the announcement aligns with the broader political calendar. The formal ratification of their expulsion from the Party is scheduled for the fifth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee, which begins in late October. Advancing "full and rigorous party self-governance" is set to be a major item on the agenda for the conclave in Beijing.[5]

The cases now move from the Party's internal disciplinary apparatus to the military procuratorate, which handles criminal prosecution for armed forces personnel. While the internal Party investigation has concluded, the military courts will determine the precise legal penalties, which in high-profile corruption cases frequently result in life imprisonment.[2][5]