China Removes 3 Senior Officers as Military Purges Escalate

China has expelled three senior military officers from its Communist Party-controlled legislature, the latest sign that turbulence continues within the upper echelon of the country’s armed forces.

Gen. Zhang Hongbin, political commissar of the armed police, was stripped of his membership at the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s rubber-stamp legislature, according to a Dec. 27 notice published on the body’s website. No reason was given for the commanders’ exit.

The announcement came amid a far-reaching anti-corruption campaign that has purged dozens of senior military officials, including He Weidong, once the country’s second-most-senior uniformed officer and a close ally of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping.

Speculation has circulated for months that Zhang was caught up in the anti-graft drive. Rumors gained traction as the general was absent from several important political events he was expected to attend. That includes a key Party conclave in October, known as the Fourth Plenum.

The CCP is known for its opacity, but its controlled armed forces are even more secretive, especially amid a deepening political cleansing that has raised questions about its leadership stability. As a result, observers tracking the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have turned to officials’ attendance at high-profile events for clues about who may have fallen foul of the anti-corruption purge.

Before being transferred to the armed police in 2022, Zhang previously served as political commissar of the Eastern Theater Command, which oversees some of Beijing’s most strategically important areas, including the East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

Also ousted from the rubber-stamped legislature on Dec. 27 was Adm. Wang Renhua, who headed the military’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, which exercises the Party’s control over the military’s courts and procurators.

The third commander to be removed was Lt. Gen. Wang Peng, who led the training department under the Central Military Commission.

The announcement came just days after four senior defense leaders were expelled from the country’s top political advisory body. Beijing didn’t specify the reasons for their dismissal, but the NPC’s constitution states that members placed under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law” could be dismissed.

The Communist Party’s top officials have pledged to continue the over a decade-long anti-corruption efforts and to strengthen measures in next year’s crackdown, according to the summary of a Politburo meeting released by state media on Dec. 25.

A recent study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the anti-graft drive has slowed arms procurement, causing the country’s major military suppliers to see revenue shrink in 2024.

According to the Pentagon’s latest assessment, the expanding purges “very likely risk short term disruptions in the operational effectiveness of the PLA.”

“The ongoing removal of senior PLA officers has caused uncertainty over organizational priorities and lack of continuity in those priorities,” the congressionally mandated report states.

“These removals have reverberated throughout the ranks of the PLA as well, as there are reports that some new recruits question the PLA’s absolute loyalty to the party.”