Remember back in July when the Sinologist tea-leaf readers suggested that Xi Jinping was on his way out after having lost a power struggle with PLA General Zhang Youxia? Well, that speculation was accurate except for the tiny, teensy weensy detail that the subject and predicate were reversed.
The Chinese military’s top general is being investigated for suspected serious violations of discipline and law the Defense Ministry said Saturday,
Zhang Youxia, the senior of the two vice chairs of the powerful Central Military Commission, is the latest figure to fall in a long-running purge of military officials.
Analysts believe the purges are designed both to reform the military and to ensure loyalty to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who also chairs the military commission. They are part of a broader anti-corruption drive that has punished more than 200,000 officials since Xi came to power in 2012.
Another member of the commission, Liu Zhenli, has also been placed under investigation by China’s ruling Communist Party, a Defense Ministry statement said. Liu is the chief of staff of the commission’s Joint Staff Department. The commission is the top military body in China.
The statement did not provide any details on the alleged wrongdoing.
Zhang, who is 75, joined the People’s Liberation Army in 1968 and is a general from its ground forces.
The Communist Party expelled the other vice chair of the commission, He Weidong, last October and replaced him with commission member Zhang Shengmin.
Commie leader always fear rebellion in the ranks of their own military more than invasion by foreign powers. That’s why Stalin purged the top ranks of the Soviet military in 1937, a major contributing factor to the Wehrmacht kicking the Red Army’s ass in the opening phases of Operation Barbarossa in 1941. That Xi is consistently purge-happy doesn’t bode well for the CCP’s near-term chances of invading Taiwan.
There are also reports that Xis targeting “naked officials,” i.e. those high ranking Chinese military leaders with the audacity to let their relatives live abroad. After all, the CCP never knows when having the ability to put Mrs. General’s head in a vise might be necessary as a persuasion tool.
Oh Getty Images, what would I do without your weirdly appropriate clip art?
Peter Zeihan has long argued that Xi has purged anyone with ambition or competence from the CCP ranks, leaving no potential successor in on stage. It looks like he was right about that one.
This is all good news for Taiwan and the free world. The harder Xi purges the military, the less real support he’ll have and the less likely they’ll have competent leadership to push across the Formosa Strait.
Also, I wonder if all those rumors of Youxia supplanting Xi weren’t a CIA psyop to get play on Xi’s paranoia and push him into purging competent PLA officers…
Tags: China, Communism, Foreign Policy, He Weidong, Liu Zhenli, Military, People's Liberation Army, Peter Zeihan, Taiwan, Xi Jinping, Zhang Shengmin, Zhang Youxia
Russian media report Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli were plotting a coup d’état under the pretext of “saving the Party and the country.” They ordered the arrest of Xi Jinping on the night of January 18 at Beijing’s government operated Jinxi Hotel which ended in a shoot out. The coup forces were expected, trapped, and killed at the hotel. President Xi has been moving daily among different living quarters since the middle of last year.
“This is all good news for Taiwan and the free world.”
When choosing between militant expansionism and economic stability, the wise leader will first assure himself that he has the means available to finance a costly war.
Putin failed this challenge and Russia has been diminished militarily and economically.
For now, Xi must meet the challenge of US tariffs before resuming his quest of Taiwanese annexation.
Xi has punished 200,000 officials for corruption. It’s a shame we haven’t punished that many government employees.
“Xi has punished 200,000 officials for corruption.”
With all those purges, China is still more corrupt than neighboring Taiwan, to say nothing of Singapore.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/corruption-perceptions-index-by-country