China expels top military leaders Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli from Communist Party

Politburo expulsions and legal referral

Beijing announced the formal expulsion of General Zhang Youxia and General Liu Zhenli from the Chinese Communist Party and the armed forces on 21 September 2026. The decision, approved by the 21-member Politburo, stripped the country's former top-ranking uniformed officer and his chief of staff of their party standing and referred their cases to military prosecutors. Zhang served as vice chair of the Central Military Commission directly under President Xi Jinping, functioning as the second-highest official in the command structure and holding a seat on the Politburo. Liu headed the commission's Joint Staff Department and sat as an executive member of the council. The abrupt removal of both commanders from active duty in January 2026 represented the highest-level command removals in years. The formal party expulsion will go before a full plenary session of the Central Committee for final confirmation.

Disloyalty and factional accusations

Official findings published through the Xinhua News Agency accused both generals of accepting exceptionally large financial bribes, trading official appointments for illicit payments, and failing to regulate relatives and staff. Investigators stated that the two men formed political factions, crossed core boundaries, and combined illicit political conduct with economic enrichment. The official statement declared that both officers had fallen away from the party in heart and mind while violating foundational party norms. Zhang, who fought in border conflicts in the late 1970s and was one of the few senior officers with combat experience, had stayed in office past customary retirement age and was expected to retire late next year. Assistant professor James Char of Nanyang Technological University evaluated the specific language chosen by investigators regarding military patronage networks.

It's clearly a suggestion that there was sort of faction forming going on behind the scenes.

Escalation of military anti-corruption campaign

The latest removals follow an anti-corruption campaign across the armed forces that began in 2012 under Xi. In October 2025, authorities expelled Central Military Commission vice chairman He Weidong and Admiral Miao Hua from the party and military. Earlier actions removed former defense ministers Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe from party ranks in 2024, followed by suspended death sentences with two-year reprieves handed down against both men in May 2026. Suspended death penalties in the Chinese legal system are typically commuted to life imprisonment after two years. Defence authorities announced investigations into Zhang and Liu in January 2026, leading to their formal removal from the state Central Military Commission and the revocation of their National People's Congress seats in August 2026.

Diplomatic timing and military trials

The public announcement on 21 September 2026 occurred days before Xi's scheduled departure for talks in the United States with US President Donald Trump, and weeks before an October party meeting dedicated to internal governance and party discipline. Former Pentagon official Drew Thompson, who hosted Zhang during a visit to the United States in 2012, assessed the legal consequences awaiting the officers following their referral to military prosecutors.

Their expulsion opens the way to a military trial which will undoubtedly impose a harsh sentence.

Acquittals in Chinese military court proceedings remain rare once formal referrals occur. Xi reiterated the demand for uncompromised party control in remarks published by Xinhua in March.

There must be no one in the military who harbors disloyalty to the Party.