Zhang threatened leadership of CCP, claims PLA Daily

PLA Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese military, has accused top military official Zhang Youxia and senior General Liu Zhenli of threatening the Communist Party’s absolute leadership over the armed forces as one of the reasons why they were placed under investigation.

They have severely fuelled political and corruption problems that threaten the Communist Party’s absolute leadership over the armed forces and undermine the party’s governance foundation, an editorial in People’s Daily said on Sunday.

The two senior Chinese military officials were placed under investigation for serious violations of the ruling Communist Party’s discipline and laws, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday.

The charge of threatening the party’s absolute leadership is regarded as “very serious” as the Chinese military functioned under the command of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which exercises absolute control of the armed forces.

Ever since he took over the leadership in 2012, President Xi Jinping, 72, who also heads the party, the military besides the presidency has been emphasising that it is imperative for the military to function under the party leadership. The party holds the gun, he has been persistently reminding the military generals.

Observers say the emphasis of party loyalty also means endorsing his absolute leadership as he has been declared as the core leader of the party and action against Zhang 75, came as Xi may regard the top general undermining his leadership.

Unlike the other generals, Zhang is the first-ranking Vice Chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), the overall high command of the Chinese military headed by Xi. Zhang’s position on the CMC makes him the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the Chinese military.

 In the end, his fate is no different to the two defence ministers and eight other generals who were sacked since 2023 under his watch as he too was detained by the military corruption investigators on Monday, according to reports.

He was accused of corruption and of failing to rein in his close associates, family members and relatives and blamed for not flagging problems to the party leadership at the first instance, the charges against him said.

Foreign observers view the intensification and continuation of anti-graft and disciplinary crackdown against the top brass of the military as aimed at unsettling the higher echelons and keeping them on tenterhooks.