BEIJING, SEP 21 (PTI): China’s ruling Communist Party on Monday expelled two senior military officials, including the highest-ranking People’s Liberation Army (PLA) official, General Zhang Youxia, from the party and the military for serious discipline and law violations.
Zhang and Liu Zhenli were expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) in accordance with a decision made at a party leadership meeting in Beijing, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is currently serving his unprecedented third five-year term, initiated the anti-graft campaign against “tigers and flies” — big and small officials — when he took power in 2012.
Dozens of senior PLA officers, including two defence ministers, have been sacked or punished under the intensified anti-corruption campaign carried out by Xi.
Zhang, 75, and Liu, 61, were placed under investigation in January this year for serious violations of the ruling Communist Party’s discipline and laws.
A meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Monday approved the Central Military Commission’s (CMC) reports on the handling of Zhang and Liu’s cases after deliberation.
Gen Zhang was the first-ranking Vice Chairman of the powerful seven-member CMC, the overall high command of the Chinese military headed by President Xi Jinping.
Zhang’s position in the CMC made him the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the Chinese military.
Tuesday, September 22, 2026