China has opened an investigation into Zhang Youxia, the country’s most senior serving general after President Xi Jinping, in what analysts describe as one of the most consequential military purges in decades. The move, framed officially as a probe into “serious violations of discipline and the law”.
Zhang, 75, is vice-chairman of the Communist Party’s powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), the body that commands China’s military. He is joined in the investigation by Liu Zhenli, 61, chief of staff of the CMC’s Joint Staff Department. A defence ministry statement said that, “Following a review... it has been decided to initiate an investigation into Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli,” adding that both were “suspected of serious violations of discipline and the law”. No details of the alleged wrongdoing were given.
