Simultaneous Purge of Top Military Leaders Shocks International Community

On January 24, China's Central Military Commission (CMC) Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia and CMC member Liu Zhenli were abruptly arrested, sending shockwaves through the international community. The simultaneous purge of China's top military leadership is highly unprecedented.

That evening, the PLA Daily issued an urgent editorial condemning the two for "seriously undermining the CMC Chairman Responsibility System" and "threatening the Party's absolute leadership over the military and endangering the Party's ruling foundation." Such language suggests not mere corruption, but political treason.

Coup Attempt Thwarted? Internal Whistleblowing Reveals Power Struggle

Du Wen, a former CCP official from Inner Mongolia, revealed that Zhang Youxia had prepared a coup against Xi Jinping together with Liu Zhenli "to respond to demands from inside and outside the Party and save the Communist Party," but failed due to internal whistleblowing.

Veteran commentator Jiang Feng analyzed the official notice, pointing out that while others were accused of "collapse of faith," Zhang Youxia faced the stronger charge of "threatening the Party's ruling foundation." This indicates that Zhang's actions directly threatened Xi Jinping's power itself.

The 2024 Third Plenum Incident: Balance of Power

Rumors circulated that Xi Jinping suffered a stroke during the Third Plenum in July 2024. At that time, CMC member Miao Hua and Vice Chairman He Weidong allegedly attempted to remove Zhang Youxia, but Zhang reportedly arrested Miao Hua and seized military power by coordinating with Party elders including Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao.

Independent commentator Cai Shenkun analyzed that after the 20th Party Congress, when Xi Jinping purged Defense Minister Li Shangfu and Rocket Force generals who were Zhang Youxia's appointees, Zhang retaliated by obtaining evidence of corruption involving Xi's allies He Weidong and Miao Hua to pressure them. This internal "mutual blackmail" structure eventually became public.

Commentator Tang Hao noted that Xi's misguided policies weakened China's economy and caused international isolation, fueling Zhang Youxia's discontent. "When the economy is bad and diplomacy isolated, dictators start wars to divert regime pressure." Zhang could not accept military lives being sacrificed to preserve personal power.

Military Orders Suspended: Fractured Control

Unprecedented abnormalities appeared in China's military following Zhang Youxia's arrest. Chinese military sources told The Epoch Times that at least two directives issued by the CMC to theater commands and group armies were not executed. Military orders were suspended mid-air—the PLA's operational system was experiencing serious dysfunction.

Wang Tiancheng, former Peking University law lecturer and director of the Institute for China's Democratic Transition, stated: "Xi Jinping is extremely suspicious and distrusts everyone around him. He tries to control the army firmly this way." However, frequent purges of senior generals eliminate their sense of security, increasing the likelihood that the military will withdraw loyalty during a regime crisis.

Historical Pattern: CCP Internal Power Struggles

Power struggles over military control have repeatedly occurred in CCP history. Mao Zedong purged Lin Biao; Deng Xiaoping removed the Yang Shangkun-Yang Baibing brothers. Jiang Zemin "wouldn't let go of the gun barrel"; Hu Jintao never fully controlled military power.

Since taking power, Xi Jinping has used "anti-corruption" as a pretext to eliminate major generals including Xu Caihou and Guo Boxiong to consolidate military control. Following the 2023 Rocket Force mass purge came He Weidong's 2025 arrest, and now Zhang Youxia's 2026 purge.

This recalls Stalin's Great Purge. In the 1930s, Stalin purged most senior military officers, leaving the Soviet military helpless against Germany's invasion at the start of World War II. Wang Tiancheng warned: "Xi Jinping's frequent purges of generals have eliminated their sense of security," raising questions about military loyalty in future crises.

Future Outlook [AI Analysis]

Failure of the "Preserve the Party" Line

China expert Wang He analyzes that Zhang Youxia's failure marks the end of the "oppose Xi, preserve the Party" line. Though Zhang and others conducted anti-Xi activities, their goal of "preserving the Party" prevented them from openly breaking away, ultimately allowing Xi to outmaneuver them. Since Xi himself represents Party preservation, any attempt to maintain the Party is doomed to fail.

Wang Tiancheng noted: "Their calls to preserve the Party are illusions; they're actually protecting their own power and interests." The CCP cannot be reformed and will only end when people rebel during serious crisis.

Accelerating Regime Collapse

The Global Service Center for Quitting the CCP issued a special commentary stating "complete separation from the CCP is the only way out." Center Chairman Wang Zhiyuan diagnosed: "As a result of the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, organ harvesting, and destruction of social morality, the CCP train has already derailed."

He warned that even if Xi regains military control, continuing to use the CCP machine will drive the country toward becoming a "large North Korea"—borders more closed, war risks higher, people with fewer escape routes. Even if military counterattack leads to civil war, the cost would be enormous. Either way, remaining bound to the CCP machine means never escaping the noose of terror politics.

Commentator Jiang Feng said "Zhang Youxia's failure may actually be positive." Had Zhang won, he would have patched up the CCP system and extended its life. Xi's victory means the last brake within the system has been removed. "Chief accelerator Xi will drive this decrepit vehicle even faster toward the cliff."

Choice at a Historical Turning Point

Wang Zhiyuan emphasized: "Today's most fundamental choice is complete separation from the CCP." One must break with the evil structure that seized power through violence and terror, lubricates violence with lies, obliterates humanity with Party nature, and parasitically controls society.

The Global Service Center for Quitting the CCP declared "2026 is the year of reckoning as the CCP's extreme power enters its terminal phase" and "2026 is the historic moment when the CCP's towering crimes are fully exposed." Like the ancient saying "the gentleman does not stand beneath a precarious wall," the message is to seize the last opportunity and withdraw from the CCP.

China's political situation has entered the "late Communist" era of structural collapse and total disorder. The Zhang Youxia incident is likely to be recorded not as a simple power struggle, but as a symbolic event marking the visible self-destruction process of the CCP system itself.