China Formally Removes Top Generals Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli
5 sources across 5 countries
Who reported this
- South China Morning Post
- Corriere della Sera
- Asahi Shimbun
- Aftenposten
- Reuters
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
- A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.
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China has formally removed senior officers Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli from the Central Military Commission (CMC). The decision was announced during a meeting of the National People's Congress Standing Committee on Friday. Both generals had been under investigation since January for alleged violations of discipline and the law. Zhang served as the CMC vice chairman and was the highest ranking uniformed officer in the military. Liu served as the chief of the CMC Joint Staff Department.
Following these removals, the CMC is reduced to only two members: President Xi Jinping and vice chairman Zhang Shengmin. This follows a broader trend of military purges. One report notes that since 2012, President Xi has eliminated at least 110 high ranking officers, with approximately 60 of those removals occurring since 2024. A PLA Daily commentary in January stated that Zhang and Liu betrayed the trust of the Communist Party and undermined its absolute control of the military.
Outlets with a center right lean frame the event as a formal disciplinary action or a systematic purge of the military leadership. Center left framing emphasizes the strengthening of military discipline. Center framing focuses on the factual removal of the officials from the state commission.
How each side framed it
- Centre-left
- This outlet frames the dismissals as a move toward strengthening military discipline.
- Centre
- This outlet presents the event as a straightforward factual report of the removal of generals from the state commission.
- Centre-right
- These outlets frame the event as a formal removal for discipline violations or a systematic purge of the military hierarchy.
Sources
- Centre-right Aftenposten: China fires military top leaders
- Centre-left Asahi Shimbun: Decision made to dismiss two high ranking officials including top of Chinese military uniformed branch; strengthening military discipline
- Centre-right Corriere della Sera: China, the slow motion "execution" of Xi Jinping's generals: the "big brother" of the Beijing leader also falls
- Centre Reuters: China removes top generals from state Central Military Commission - Reuters
- Centre-right South China Morning Post: China strips former generals Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli of top military positions
93% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.