BEIJING — The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has announced the expulsion of Zhang Youxia, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and former military "number two" under President Xi Jinping, stripping him of both his party membership and military rank following an investigation into corruption, factionalism, and political infractions.

According to Xinhua News Agency on the 21st, the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee reviewed and adopted a processing opinion report submitted by the CMC’s Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervisory Commission regarding Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, the former Chief of Staff of the CMC Joint Staff Department.

The Political Bureau stated, "Investigations revealed that Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli abandoned their original aspirations and missions, turned against the party, lost their party spirit principles, and crossed the red line. They severely violated political discipline and rules, formed factions, and were disloyal and dishonest to the party."

The Political Bureau further cited reasons for the disciplinary actions, noting that the two used their positions to provide conveniences for others in promotions, accepted huge sums of money and gifts, and failed to properly educate and manage their relatives and subordinate staff.

"Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli severely violated party discipline and are suspected of serious duty-related crimes. Political and economic issues are intertwined, and corruption, accumulation of wealth, and dereliction of duty coexist," the Political Bureau criticized, adding, "The amounts involved are exceptionally large, the nature is extremely severe, and the impact is exceptionally vicious."

Consequently, authorities decided to strip both men of their party memberships and revoke their qualifications as representatives to the 20th National Congress (held in 2022), while transferring their cases to military procuratorates for review and prosecution.

Additionally, the Political Bureau announced that the decision to strip them of their party memberships will be officially endorsed at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP (20th 5th Plenum), scheduled for October 26–29. The CMC has already revoked their military status.

The Political Bureau asserted, "The rigorous investigation and handling of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli fully demonstrate the clear-cut attitude of the Party Central Committee and the CMC to push the anti-corruption struggle through to the end, reaffirming that there are no restricted zones, no exceptions, and zero tolerance in cracking down on corruption." It added, "Through the revolutionary tempering of the anti-corruption struggle, the people's armed forces have become purer, more consolidated, and endowed with stronger cohesion and combat effectiveness."

The Chinese military has experienced a series of high-level dismissals under President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption drive, including former Defense Minister Li Shangfu (2023), former Political Work Department Director Miao Hua (2024), and former CMC Vice Chairman He Weidong (2025). In January of this year, Zhang Youxia, the military's second-in-ranking official, and former Joint Staff Department Chief Liu Zhenli were also ousted.

With the CMC originally composed of seven members—one chairman and two vice chairmen—only President Xi Jinping and Vice Chairman Zhang Shengmin remain, effectively cementing a single-leader system under President Xi.

Among the string of high-level dismissals, Zhang Youxia's fall has attracted global attention. He was the highest-ranking active-duty military general ousted by President Xi and the most senior military figure purged since the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident.

Although the Chinese military did not initially explain the specific reasons for the ouster of Zhang and Liu, military editorials previously asserted that the two "severely undermined and disrupted the CMC Chairman Responsibility System, seriously fostered political and corruption issues that affected the party's absolute leadership over the military and undermined the party's ruling foundation." This fueled interpretations that the purge stemmed from internal power struggles within the Chinese military.

Analysts suggest that the Political Bureau's official release of findings mentioning "factionalism" and "entangled political and economic issues" is closely tied to these underlying power dynamics.

The formalization of the stripping of party and military memberships for Zhang and Liu—whose political lives were already effectively ended—came immediately after the Political Bureau finalized the schedule for the 20th 5th Plenum and the agenda of "comprehensively governing the party with strict discipline." Observers interpret this as a "pre-cleanup" action ahead of a major political event.

Notably, the Chinese military made a similar announcement stripping He Weidong of his party and military memberships just prior to the opening of the 20th 4th Plenum last year.

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