China expels Xi Jinping purges his OWN closest military ally as China's top brass corruption scandal deepens ahead of Trump visit
From the Newshound archive · first published 21 September 2026 · last updated 23 September 2026.
Xi Jinping and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Xi's removal of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli leaves only two active members on what was formerly a seven-strong supreme military command body.Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, the two most senior military figures beneath Xi Jinping, have been referred to prosecutors as the purge enters its criminal phase.
Xi Jinping has removed his closest military ally, Zhang Youxia, the PLA's most senior uniformed officer, together with fellow general Liu Zhenli. Both men have been stripped of their Communist Party membership and military positions on charges of disloyalty, corruption and factionalism, and both are headed for prosecution — a process in which acquittals are virtually unknown in China's criminal justice system. Xi personally chaired the Politburo meeting that approved the expulsions, just days before his scheduled visit to the United States for talks with President Trump.
Five of the seven generals who made up Xi's Central Military Commission in 2022 have now been purged, leaving Xi and a single loyalist remaining.
Zhang and Liu stand accused of trading promotions for 'exceptionally large' sums of money, building factional networks and being 'disloyal and dishonest to the party'.
The timing — immediately before Xi's US trip — has drawn attention from Western analysts, who say the 'disloyalty' charges are without precedent and point to a serious power struggle within the PLA.
