Washington, Jan 28
As China prepares for the 'Two Sessions' in March, the country’s biggest annual political event, new appointments are expected with key positions to be filled by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s handpicked loyalists. However, new appointments cannot hide the fact that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) aim is to become a world-class military in the coming years and will encounter immediate challenges, a report said on Wednesday.

“On January 20, 2026, at a high-level study session for China’s principal provincial and ministerial officials, there was a conspicuous empty chair. Official reporting surreptitiously noted that “both” Vice-Chairmen of the Central Military Commission (CMC) were in attendance, yet the footage told a different story. General Zhang Youxia, the second-in-command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), was missing,” a report in US based magazine, The National Interest, detailed

“Four days later, the other shoe dropped. China’s Ministry of National Defence confirmed that Zhang, alongside CMC member and Chief of Joint Staff Liu Zhenli, had been placed under investigation for ‘serious violations of discipline and law.’ While Beijing is no stranger to either military corruption or political indiscipline, Zhang’s case is much more incendiary than business-as-usual,” it added

According to the report, the purges are creating a leadership vacuum in the PLA, with at least 14 of 81 generals promoted by Xi since October 2022, dismissed, and another 23 disappeared.

“This creates a ‘Schrodinger’s general' problem, wherein officers who are technically in command have either disappeared from public view or are paralysed by the fear of being targeted next. That, combined with the rapid turnover of commanders in the Northern, Southern, and Central Theatres, as well as in services such as the PLA Army, Air Force, and Rocket Force, is likely to degrade morale and steadiness in the chain of command,” it stated.

The report highlighted that Zhang’s extensive networks are likely to come under scrutiny. Officials of China's Northern Theatre Commander Huang Ming and Southern Theater Commander Wu Yanan, who previously worked with Zhang in the old Shenyang Military Region, are under close watch.

“Officials such as Fan Yonxiang, Director of the CMC General Office, also worked with Zhang during Zhang’s tenure as Head of the PLA General Armaments Department in 2015. While these networks merit deeper investigation, Xi’s choice boils down to decimating anyone who ever worked under Zhang’s patronage or retaining experienced personnel within the force,” it noted

The report further said, “Instead, Xi now has a high command consumed by paranoia, where war planning takes a backseat to political survival. Flybys around Taiwan, or skirmishes with the Philippines in the South China Sea, will continue. But while Xi caged the tigers, he must hope that he has not declawed the dragon in the process.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping's top military command consumed by paranoia: Report