China’s top general, Zhang Youxia, investigated in military purge

China’s Defense Ministry said it is investigating Zhang Youxia, the senior general and one of the two vice chairs of the Central Military Commission, for suspected serious violations of discipline and law. The ministry made the announcement Saturday, according to the Defense Ministry statement.

The same statement said another Central Military Commission figure, Liu Zhenli, has also been placed under investigation by China’s ruling Communist Party. Liu is the chief of staff of the commission’s Joint Staff Department, the top military body in China.

The Defense Ministry statement did not provide any details on the alleged wrongdoing. It also did not specify what the investigation would cover beyond the allegation of violations of discipline and law for Zhang, and the Communist Party investigation involving Liu.

Zhang, who is 75, joined the People’s Liberation Army in 1968 and is a general from its ground forces. His investigation places him among the latest figures to be caught in what the reporting described as a long-running purge of military officials.

The personnel upheaval has also included other senior changes at the commission level. The Communist Party expelled He Weidong, the other vice chair of the Central Military Commission, last October, and replaced him with commission member Zhang Shengmin.

Beyond the commission, the campaign has reached other defense leadership positions as well. In 2024, the party expelled two former defense ministers over corruption charges.

Analysts believe the purges are designed both to reform the military and to ensure loyalty to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who also chairs the military commission. The reporting said the steps are part of a broader anti-corruption drive that has punished more than 200,000 officials since Xi came to power in 2012.

The announcement about the investigations also comes as Washington released a new defense blueprint that explicitly addresses China’s military role. The Trump administration released a new National Defense Strategy on Friday that acknowledged China as a military power that it said needs to be deterred from dominating the U.S. or its allies.

The strategy said: “This does not require regime change or some other existential struggle.” It added: “Rather, a decent peace, on terms favorable to Americans but that China can also accept and live under, is possible.”