The ousted officials included some of President Xi Jinping’s military’s brightest rising stars. Admiral who helped establish the Chinese government’s presence in the disputed South China Sea. and a missile commander who honed China’s ability to respond to a possible nuclear war.
They were among nine senior Chinese military officials recently suddenly and without official explanation removed from their positions in the Chinese Communist Party-run legislative body.
Experts say the move comes as Mr. Xi’s recent offensive to root out corruption and other allegations of wrongdoing within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which is in charge of developing weapons and military facilities, gains momentum. It said it shows a focus on politically sensitive institutions. In October, China abruptly fired its defense minister, who had been involved in the military’s weapons acquisition system for years. A few months ago, two commanders of China’s Rocket Force, which controls nuclear missiles, were replaced.
Since coming to power in 2012, Mr. Xi has launched a ferocious, high-decibel crackdown on Communist Party officials and generals. But this latest operation in the military is being carried out mostly quietly, with no official confirmation that it is underway.
Experts who track China’s military said Mr. Xi’s strategy appears to be a surgical strike aimed at asserting his control over the military sector. They noted that the dismissal clearly removed Mr. Xi’s longtime ally, at least for now.
This pattern suggests a “targeted crackdown” and “even in the most important technical fields, the party is willing to crack down to ensure the long-term healthy development of these fields.” “This shows that this is the case,” said Tai Minh Chan, a professor at the university. The University of California, San Diego has been studying China’s weapons development program for many years.
Professor Tai pointed out that China’s weapons program is one of the “most secret” aspects of the Chinese military, and huge sums of money have been poured into it over the past few decades. “The situation is ripe for large-scale corruption,” he wrote in an email.
China announced the dismissal of its legislative body, known as the National People’s Congress, in a terse statement late Friday. Two days earlier, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the country’s top political advisory body, announced the expulsion of three executives from military-related state-owned enterprises. Others are from China Aerospace Technology Corporation.
The anti-corruption drive could tarnish Mr. Xi’s image of political invincibility, as all of the sacked executives owed their promotions.
Meanwhile, former CIA China political analyst Christopher K. Johnson said Mr. Xi’s bold move to serve as a military officer means that, despite China’s economic woes, Mr. He said this is a sign that he is maintaining his strength.
Mr Johnson said: “Mr Xi’s willingness to accept the humiliation of such a large-scale purge shows the strength of his determination to ensure that the military is able to carry out its mandate to ‘fight and win wars.’ It shows that.”
Shortly after taking power, Mr. Xi launched a crackdown on corruption within the military, warning that such misconduct could threaten China’s security as competition with the West intensifies. Dozens of commanders and generals have been convicted of corruption in the form of selling military assets, contracts, and promotions.
At the time, however, he was still consolidating his power as China’s leader, and his crackdown was mainly focused on retired bureaucrats. “His powers are now sufficiently indisputable that he can get to the root of the problem with relative ease,” Johnson said.
Professor Tai said military investigators “have long identified arms procurement as one of the most prevalent areas of corruption in the People’s Liberation Army.” However, in previous anti-corruption campaigns, very few of the officials known to have been arrested worked in this field. “This time, arms procurement and the defense industry appear to be one of the key target areas,” he said.
It is less clear why Mr. Xi chose to act now. The first visible signs of the crackdown were last year’s dismissal of two Rocket Force commanders, followed by the dismissal of Defense Minister Gen. Lee Sang-bok. Experts say the problems found with the rocket squad could snowball into a broader investigation.
Some of the officers who have been replaced in recent days have known Li from their time at the General Armaments Department, which oversees procurement, or the General Ordnance Department, which replaced it after Mr. Xi moved to reorganize the military in 2015. Some had it, some didn’t. Yao Chen, a former Chinese naval officer who now lives in the United States, said the investigation suggests it goes beyond General Li.
Among the officers fired was Dai Lai-han, a former air force commander who had pushed for more realistic training for pilots. The other is Kim Shin-chun, a naval commander who was once deputy commander of the South Sea Fleet surrounding the South China Sea. He previously served as head of the fleet’s equipment division. The other is Li Yuchao, a general in China’s missile forces who previously oversaw exercises to launch nuclear counterattacks after a nuclear attack. He was dismissed in 2023.
China expert Ou Shifu said that in the short term, high-level realignment could delay the deployment of some weapons and facilities. Armed Forces of the National Institute for Defense and Security Studies, Taiwan. But such potential delays are likely to be limited, he said.
It also remains unclear whether the surveillance will also extend to officials and commanders appointed by Mr. Xi to his top leadership team for his third term as Communist Party leader in 2022.
Among them is General Zhang Youxia, who is second in rank to Mr. Xi in the military hierarchy and has long-standing personal ties to him. General Zhang previously served as the director of the People’s Liberation Army’s General Equipment Department and its revamped successor. At least three senior Communist Party officials in the Politburo, the 24-member party council, rose through the ranks in armaments and aerospace.
“Xi Jinping basically has all the harmful materials at hand that he can use against all military officers and party officials, so he can always find a reason to campaign against anyone.” said Mr. Ou. Regarding the fate of General Zhang and other Politburo officials, Ou said, “So far, there are signs that they will survive.”