Why China’s rapid ousting of 2 top generals is a sharp warning on party purity

South China Morning PostCenter-RightEN 1 min read 100% complete by Alyssa ChenJanuary 25, 2026 at 03:00 PM

AI Summary

short article 1 min

China's top two generals, Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, are under investigation for serious disciplinary violations, signaling President Xi Jinping's emphasis on Communist Party discipline and political purity. Zhang Youxia is the first-ranked vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and Liu Zhenli is chief of the CMC’s Joint Staff Department. Their removal leaves the supreme military command with only two members. The investigation occurs before the 21st party congress and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) centenary in 2027. The ousting of these senior military leaders is considered a risky move, but demonstrates Xi's commitment to prioritizing discipline and political alignment within the party and military. Xi has previously warned against conduct that damages the party's purity.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

21st Party Congress 60% Zhang Shengmin 60% Liu Zhenli 70% People's Liberation Army (PLA) ×270% Communist Party of China ×280% Zhang Youxia 80% Central Military Commission (CMC) ×280% China ×390% Xi Jinping ×390%

Keywords

party purity 90% xi jinping 80% political purity 70% discipline violations 70% central military commission 70% 21st party congress 60% people's liberation army 60% modernisation goals 50% communist party 50% military command 50%

Sentiment Analysis

Negative

Score: -0.30

Source Transparency

Source

South China Morning Post

Political Lean

Center-Right (0.50)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

Topic Connections

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

No topic relationship data available yet. This graph will appear once topic relationships have been computed.

party purity xi jinping political purity discipline violations central military commission 21st party congress people's liberation army modernisation goals communist party military command

Explore Full Topic Graph