Chapter 1: What significant military changes did Xi Jinping implement in China?
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, the senior most general and number two of the Central Military Commission, which is basically the Chinese military's decision-making body, was under investigation for, quote, severe violations of party discipline and state laws.
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.
Zhang is the most senior active duty military officer to be ousted and put under investigation by Xi Jinping and the highest ranking military figure purged in decades. So that announcement was really a bombshell.
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.
But our reporting does not confirm whether those allegations are true or not. Beijing's internal explanations do not always reflect the complete or even true motivation behind Xi Jinping's decisions. It's a huge black box.
What we do know is that the Chinese military has been ramping up its purges of top officials.
Xi has now purged five of the six senior generals he handpicked only three years ago to lead the military. So it is quite unprecedented. It basically represents the hollowing out of the Chinese military's high command.
And Zhang is the most high-profile figure to be fired so far.
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Chapter 2: Who is General Zhang Youxia and why was he dismissed?
Lingling says that now, Xi Jinping has the sole command of the Chinese armed forces.
So by clearing the decks, Xi Jinping ensures that no senior military figure has the authority to challenge his decisions or vision.
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.
October 1st, 1949. In Beiping, Mao Zedong inaugurates the so-called Chinese People's Republic. The communist victory has been won in the face of what, two years before, seemed insurmountable obstacles.
So both men are descendants of revolutionary elders. Zhang's father was a three-star general who fought alongside Xi Jinping's father during the Chinese Civil War under Mao Zedong. So their families were very close, and they were very close as well. You know, they're childhood friends. Xi even called him Big Brother when they were younger.
The two men took different paths to the top of the Chinese Communist Party. Zhang Youxia climbed the ranks of the People's Liberation Army, while Xi Jinping became a statesman. Zhang would rise to the rank of general in 2011, and Xi would take his seat at the head of the country two years later. And they stayed close.
And, you know, later on, Xi really personally elevated Zhang through the ranks and naming him the number one general in 2022, even allowing him to stay past normal retirement ages.
Zhang is 75 years old. How important has Zhang been to the military?
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Chapter 3: What allegations led to General Zhang's investigation?
Many analysts have said Xi's growing paranoia suggests that he views any officer or senior official, you know, someone with the statue of Zhang Youxia who has, you know, independent influence,
A Chinese defense ministry spokesman warned against unfounded speculation and referred back to the original announcement of the probe into Zhang's alleged violations. Is this sort of accusation and ousting, is this common in China? Is it a tool that the party generally uses?
Yeah, you know, it is quite common in China in the party's history. Whenever they want to... take down some high-level officials, the party would, you know, do everything, say everything to try to discredit this person and make sure that the public accepts this person's downfall as justified.
And what's happening now, is it any different from what we've seen in the past?
So the speed and scale of this turnover was unmatched in the post Mao Zedong era. Xi Jinping has been carrying out significant crackdowns on Chinese military since 2023. And more than 50 senior military officers and defense industry executives have been investigated or removed. And Zhang Yousha is the latest. She now is firmly in charge of the Chinese military.
By purging even his closest personal friend, Xi has signaled that there are no limits to his zeal for loyalty. And the move suggests that any officer with too much independent power is viewed as a threat to Xi's train of command.
And the reason maintaining control of the chain of command is so important has to do with an island off China's coast. That's next. Taiwan has been in China's sights for decades. The island has been self-governing since 1949 and became a vibrant democracy starting in the late 1980s.
As you know that China considers Taiwan this self-governing democracy as part of its territory. The ultimate goal is to reunify the mainland with Taiwan. That's what the Chinese term is, reunification. And Xi Jinping has claimed that reunification with Taiwan is basically ultimate prize for him.
It's not exactly clear when China might push to reunify with Taiwan or what that might look like. But China's push to modernize its military offers a clue. Xi Jinping has set 2027 as a deadline for this modernization effort. The year coincides with the centennial of the People's Liberation Army.
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Chapter 4: How has Xi Jinping's control over the military evolved?
President Trump has not made that statement. Instead, Trump administration officials say the White House is focused on blunting Beijing's aggression by setting up defenses in the Pacific around China. Administration officials also say the U.S.
has already reinforced its security ties with Taiwan through a strategically important semiconductor trade deal and a weapons sale agreement worth more than $11 billion.
So overall, you know, based on our conversation with the administration, their goal is to really raise the cost of military action for China. And they want to prevent a Chinese military attack without engaging in needless confrontation.
But Lingling says that rather than deter Xi from confronting Taiwan, these moves by the U.S. may be giving Xi more confidence.
That confidence really stems from a fundamental reassessment of Washington's resolve to defend Taiwan. in the event of a Chinese invasion, Beijing basically views President Trump as having little appetite for costly military intervention in the Taiwan Strait. Even the Trump administration's recent $11.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan, the largest in history, has been interpreted
in Beijing as promoting the defense industry rather than a security commitment. That's according to analysts we spoke to.
What does all of this tell you about where China is right now?
Xi Jinping's view of the United States is that, you know, when he compares China's strengths to the U.S. national strengths, he felt like China is almost there. It's almost on par with the U.S. This moment is a pivotal moment in the Communist Party's history. And it's a political earthquake in China. It really shows that Xi Jinping has full control. He has the sole power now to decide, you know,
how the military should be trained, should be run, and it shows that he really has the absolute power over the party, over the military, and over the nation.
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