China has expelled two top military generals over “serious violations of discipline and law” and “disloyalty” ahead of Xi Jinping‘s visit to the US to meet Donald Trump.
The Chinese Communist Party has removed the Chinese president’s closest military ally, General Zhang Youxia and General Liu Zhenli, following allegations of abuse of power, corruption, and leaking sensitive nuclear data.
Mr Zhang was second only to Mr Xi in the military hierarchy and worked as vice-chair of the powerful Central Military Commission, China’s supreme command body. He was accused of leaking sensitive data on the People’s Liberation Army’s nuclear weapons build-up to the US.
File: Chinese Central Military Commission (CMC) Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia arrives for a group photo session before the opening ceremony of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium in Qingdao, Shandong province, China (Reuters)
Mr Liu worked as chief of staff of the commission’s Joint Staff Department. He was accused of violating political rules and discipline, being dishonest to the party, and forming “self-serving cliques and factions”.
Their removal marks one of the highest-ranking expulsions as part of a long-running purge of military officials and a crackdown on corruption.
China has expelled more than 100 senior PLA officers from various armed forces units since 2020, who have since either gone missing or been swept aside, amounting to an unprecedented purge of China’s military.
Analysts say it shows Mr Xi’s determination to not only root out corruption but eliminate all obstacles in the path of his ambitious military modernisation objectives while ensuring absolute loyalty.
File: China’s Central Military Commission member Liu Zhenli arrives for the Beijing Xiangshan Forum in Beijing (Reuters)
The pair were put under investigation in January 2026 for serious disciplinary and legal violations.
According to state-run Xinhua, the two generals “crossed red lines and basic limits” and were “disloyal and dishonest to the party” while engaging in corruption and dereliction of duty.
It said the investigations revealed that Mr Zhang and Mr Liu “formed self-serving cliques, were disloyal and dishonest to the Party, took advantage of their positions to assist others in promotions and accepted a huge sum of bribes in return”.
Their “violations involved exceptionally large amounts of money, and were of extremely serious nature and with significantly negative impacts”, it said.
The investigation in the case will be transferred to military prosecution authorities for legal review and prosecution.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a tea ceremony with Russian President Vladimir Putin following their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 20, 2026 (Reuters)
Khedroob Thondup, the nephew of the Dalai Lama and a Tibetan politician, said the expulsion “marks one of the most dramatic purges in Xi Jinping’s decade-long campaign to consolidate control over the military”.
“Corruption charges are often intertwined with accusations of disloyalty to Xi.”
Joseph Torigian, a senior fellow for Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Mr Zhang’s father was removed from the high command in the wake of Mao’s death.
“He was lionised in the media as hopeful proof that yet another generation would reject materialism for higher ideals. He now faces party expulsion for corruption by Xi, a man who similarly doubled down on the party despite his own travails and those of his family,” Mr Torigian said.
Other experts said that the language in Chinese media using terms such as “cliques” and “disloyalty” hints that Beijing is targeting political trust as much as corruption.
China’s official military newspaper, PLA Daily, said the two generals “seriously betrayed the trust and expectations of the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission”.
It added that they “seriously fostered political and corruption problems that undermined the Party’s absolute leadership over the military” and tarnished the image of the army.
The purges are part of a broader anti-corruption drive that has resulted in punishment for more than 200,000 officials since the Chinese leader came to power in 2012. The CMC had seven members in 2022, including Mr Zhang. Now, only two remain, including Mr Xi and Gen Zhang Shengmin, who replaced He Weidong after he was expelled.
Mr Zhang wielded an unusually high degree of power for a military officer within the civilian Communist Party system. He was promoted to the CMC in 2017 and became a full general the same year, while concurrently serving as deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection or China’s top anti-corruption body.
It comes just two days before Mr Xi leaves Beijing to meet the US president in Washington on Wednesday for a three-day state visit.
The two are set to have discussions to iron out differences on trade, AI and broader strategic issues, including the war in Ukraine and the war in the Middle East.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun confirmed the visit, adding that Mr Xi and Mr Trump would “have an in-depth exchange of views on major issues concerning China-US relations and world peace and development”.
He said China would “work with the US to enrich the substance of the relationship of constructive strategic stability between China and the US… [and] properly manage differences”.
