Why Is Xi Still Purging His Generals? (February 2026)
www.prcleader.org

... The removal of PLA senior generals Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli in January 2026 represented the peak, if not the end, of a massive purge of the military leadership that began in mid-2023.

The absence of credible information from Beijing has allowed many theories about the causes of these dismissals to circulate, which often center on factional politics or power consolidation. An examination biographical records, however, yields more support for the view that most purges are intended to clean up corruption-prone parts of the PLA in support of Xi Jinping's broad agenda of readying the military for combat by its 2027 centennial.

The massive scale of the purges, however, has probably set that agenda back as key positions are vacant or filled by less experienced officers. ...