China investigates top general
BEIJING—The Chinese military’s top general is being investigated for suspected serious violations of discipline and law, the Defense Ministry said on 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 purge is designed both to reform the military and to ensure loyalty to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who also chairs the military commission. It is also seen as part of a broader anticorruption 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 Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, which is the top military body in China.
The statement did not provide any details on the alleged wrongdoings.
From ground forces
Zhang, 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, in October last year and replaced him with commission member Zhang Shengmin.
In 2024, the party expelled two former defense ministers over corruption charges.
