ASIATODAY.ID, BEIJING – China’s military and political elite have been shaken by a major corruption scandal after the Ministry of National Defense (MOD) announced an official investigation into General Zhang Youxia, one of the country’s most powerful military figures and a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo.
Zhang, who serves as Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC)—China’s highest military authority chaired by President Xi Jinping—is suspected of “serious violations of discipline and law,” the MOD said in a statement released on Saturday, January 24, 2026.
Another senior military official, Liu Zhenli, also a CMC member, is being investigated on similar grounds.
At 74, Zhang Youxia is a veteran of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), having joined the force in 1968. He has remained in office well beyond the customary retirement age for senior Chinese military officials, underscoring his long-standing influence within the armed forces and the ruling party.
Western media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal and The Times, have speculated that Zhang may have leaked sensitive information related to China’s nuclear program to the United States and accepted large bribes in exchange for promotions within the military hierarchy.
Chinese authorities, however, have not confirmed these allegations.
China’s state-run Global Times cited an editorial published in the military’s flagship newspaper, PLA Daily, which warned that officials found guilty of corruption would be “dealt with without leniency, regardless of their rank or position.”
The message signals an uncompromising stance from Beijing’s leadership.
Since beginning his third term as president in 2023, Xi Jinping has intensified a sweeping anti-corruption campaign targeting both the armed forces and the Communist Party’s highest decision-making bodies.
Xi has repeatedly argued that corruption threatens national development and erodes party discipline.
Over the past three years, the crackdown has led to the removal or investigation of two CMC vice chairmen, three CMC members, a defense minister, and more than a dozen generals, highlighting the unprecedented scale of the purge within China’s military establishment.
Addressing China’s top anti-graft agency on January 12, Xi said the Communist Party had made “solid progress” in improving internal discipline, but cautioned that the situation remained “grave and complex.”
He stressed that there must be “no place to hide” for corrupt officials.
Analysts say the investigation into Zhang Youxia represents one of the most politically sensitive cases in recent years and could have significant implications for internal power dynamics within China’s military and broader governance system. (AT Network)
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