Sudden Emergency Situation? Xi Rapidly Convicts Zhang and Liu, PLA Command System Collapses

March 11, 2023: Senior members of the CCP’s Central Military Commission line up to take the oath at the National People’s Congress. From right to left: Zhang Youxia, He Weidong, Li Shangfu, Liu Zhenli, Miao Hua, Zhang Shengmin. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

[People News] On January 24, 2026, China’s Ministry of National Defense announced that Zhang Youxia, member of the Politburo and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Liu Zhenli, member of the Central Military Commission and chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, are “suspected of serious violations of discipline and law” and have been placed under case-filing review and investigation.

That evening, the PLA Daily published an editorial. It stated that Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, as senior Party and military officials, had “seriously trampled upon and undermined the system of responsibility of the CMC chairman,” and had “seriously fueled and affected political and corruption problems that undermine the Party’s absolute leadership over the military and endanger the Party’s governing foundation.” The editorial also emphasized strengthening “political rectification of the military” and “implementing the system of responsibility of the CMC chairman.”

Previously, after CMC vice chairman He Weidong and CMC member Miao Hua fell, the PLA Daily published an editorial on October 18, 2025, stating that the two had “seriously undermined the principle that the Party commands the gun and the system of responsibility of the CMC chairman,” calling it a “fermentation and mutation of the poisonous legacy of Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou.”

In this instance, the PLA Daily editorial regarding the downfall of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli used even harsher language, with a clearly upgraded characterization. These statements corroborate rumors that CCP leader and CMC chairman Xi Jinping had at one point lost control of the military, that Zhang Youxia had effectively controlled military power and opposed Xi. Zhang Youxia’s downfall now appears to be the result of a counterattack by the Xi faction.

After Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli fell, multiple sources disclosed that Zhang Youxia, together with Liu Zhenli, had been preparing to launch a coup, which failed due to someone informing on them; Xi Jinping struck first and had Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli arrested.

CMC vice chairman He Weidong disappeared after the Two Sessions in March 2025, and it was not until October 2025 that officials formally announced he was under investigation for corruption. By contrast, Zhang Youxia was officially announced as having fallen just four days after missing the opening ceremony of a provincial- and ministerial-level officials seminar, indicating that a sudden emergency situation had occurred behind the scenes.

Since the formation of the 20th Central Military Commission on October 23, 2022, among its seven members, Defense Minister Li Shangfu, CMC Political Work Department Director Miao Hua, and CMC vice chairman He Weidong have successively fallen. Now Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli have been investigated. At present, only Zhang Shengmin and Xi Jinping remain on the Central Military Commission.

Among active-duty full generals in the CCP military, apart from CMC vice chairman Zhang Shengmin and Defense Minister Dong Jun, only Yang Zhibin, commander of the Eastern Theater Command, and Han Shengyan, commander of the Central Theater Command—both promoted to full general in December last year—remain. Dong Jun has been plagued by rumors of trouble, and there have recently been renewed reports that he has been dismissed.

Independent commentator Cai Shenkun posted on X on January 23 that reports of the arrest of Zhang Youxia and 17 other senior generals were “absolutely accurate,” and that the Ministry of Public Security’s Special Service Bureau, the Central Guard Bureau, and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection jointly participated in the arrests, calling it “tantamount to a heavyweight military mutiny.”

At present, it remains unclear what role the military discipline inspection commission played in the downfall of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli. CMC vice chairman and secretary of the military discipline inspection commission Zhang Shengmin attended the opening ceremony of the provincial- and ministerial-level officials seminar on January 20, but on January 23 he, along with Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, was absent from the seminar’s closing ceremony. His fate will become one of the new focal points in observing the direction of the CCP military purge.

Both Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli are combat commanders who participated in the Sino-Vietnamese War. Zhang Youxia successively commanded the former 13th Group Army, the Shenyang Military Region, and the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission. Liu Zhenli served for a long time in the former Beijing Military Region, once served as commander of the Army, and commanded the CCP’s elite 38th Group Army. Both wield substantial influence within the military.

After the fall of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, a new round of major purges within the military is unavoidable. Mutinies by their former subordinates could occur at any time.

Former Inner Mongolia official Du Wen revealed that all units across the entire military have now entered level-one combat readiness. “Xi has ordered all units to stand by in place and not move. Xi Jinping is extremely afraid of troops entering Beijing.”

In addition, Zhang Youxia is a “red second generation,” with close ties to elders, veteran military leaders, and princelings within the Party, government, and military systems. His downfall will not only impact the military system, but will also trigger chain reactions and turmoil within the Party and government systems.

The fall of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli not only marks the comprehensive collapse of the CCP military command system, but also signifies that the Party–government–military foundations of the CCP regime are being torn apart and are collapsing. Their downfall will further stimulate and intensify political turbulence in Zhongnanhai, filling the CCP’s political future with even greater variables and uncertainty.

— The Dajiyuan
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