Jessica Mendoza

See you tomorrow.

In California, a proposed ballot measure that would tax the wealthiest people in that state sparked some pretty intense backlash.

In the halls of power in China, President Xi Jinping has fought a quiet battle for control of the country's armed forces.

Last month, he fired his top general in a massive shakeup of the Chinese military.

General Zhang Youxia was once considered Xi Jinping's right-hand man, vital to the People's Liberation Army.

And now he's under arrest.

The Chinese military gave few details about the investigation into Zhang.

But our colleague Lingling Wei has been trying to figure out what led to his removal.

And she learned that Zhang Yousha was accused of a litany of crimes, including bribery, corruption, and the leaking of nuclear weapons secrets to the United States.

What we do know is that the Chinese military has been ramping up its purges of top officials.

And Zhang is the most high-profile figure to be fired so far.

Lingling says that now, Xi Jinping has the sole command of the Chinese armed forces.

And that could have huge implications for Beijing, especially when it comes to foreign policy.

Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power.

I'm Jessica Mendoza.

It's Wednesday, February 11th.

Coming up on the show, the political implications of the fall of General Zhang Yousha.

Zhang Yuxia has been the People's Liberation Army's top general since 2022.

But his relationship to Xi Jinping goes way back, to the very beginning of communist China.

The two men took different paths to the top of the Chinese Communist Party.