China Purges So Many Top Generals They Might Need to Draft Local TikTok Stars
KEY POINTS
- •Chinese leader Xi Jinping intensified an anti-corruption campaign, investigating top generals Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli in early 2026.
- •Since 2022, five of seven Central Military Commission members have been purged or investigated, creating a significant leadership gap.
- •Despite these upheavals, China conducted major joint military exercises around Taiwan to project combat readiness amid internal instability.
In a 2024 saga of military personnel Tinder-style swiping, China’s top brass keeps getting 'left swiped' by Xi Jinping’s relentless anti-corruption charm offensive. Gen. Zhang Youxia, the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and supposedly one of Xi's favorite generals, was suddenly 'under investigation'—because nothing says job security like being personally accused of betraying the Communist Party and maybe leaking nuclear secrets to the U.S. Since 2022, only Xi and anti-graft czar Zhang Shengmin remain from a seven-person elite club, while the rest have been purged, disappeared, or kicked out. It’s like a bad season of military reality TV, but with atomic stakes and fewer commercial breaks. Reports hint that hundreds of senior officers from defense ministers to joint staff chiefs like Liu Zhenli have been forced out or sidelined, leaving an experience void on command benches. The massive shake-up allegedly fizzles readiness but bolsters political loyalty—a trade-off that’s basically turning the PLA into the military version of 'Looney Tunes meets The Great Purge.' Meanwhile, China’s joint military exercises around Taiwan ramped up, presumably to convince critics they're still fighting fit and not mid-chaos nap. Because when you’re juggling a corrupt army shake-up and geopolitical muscle-flexing, it helps to pretend the circus is running smoothly.
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China’s military scrubs more generals than a teenager’s Instagram follows, mysteriously ‘betraying trust’ and maybe leaking nukes. Meanwhile, Xi’s left standing alone, waving at the wreckage like it’s some motivational team-bonding exercise.
When your military leadership looks like last night’s Dirty Laundry, maybe it’s time to rethink whether firing everyone builds a stronger army or just empties the office.
Xi’s anti-corruption purge in the PLA is like deleting your emails by wiping the entire inbox: chaotic, irreversible, and you have no clue who’s left.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 2/1/2026 | Author: Chris Panella
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