China investigates top military generals over serious violations

China's defense ministry senior vice Chairman informed on Saturday, January 24, 2026, that it is investigating top military generals.

The ministry informed that the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) and another high-ranking official were under investigation for suspected “serious violations of discipline,” a common euphemism for corruption.

The announcement marks the latest push in a sweeping drive to root out graft at all levels of the party and state since President Xi Jinping came to power more than a decade ago.

“Following a review… it has been decided to initiate an investigation into Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli,” the defense ministry said in a statement.

The two men were “suspected of serious violations of discipline and the law,” the ministry said.

Zhang Youxia, 75, is China’s highest-ranked general as the more senior CMC vice chairman.

He is also a member of the powerful Politburo, the 24-member executive body of the Chinese Communist Party.

He shares the vice chairman title with Zhang Shengmin, a general in Beijing’s secretive rocket force who is no relation.

Zhang Shengmin was promoted to the post in October after Beijing expelled his predecessor in another sweeping corruption purge.

Both generals rank below Xi, who has held the CMC chairmanship since 2012.

Liu, 61, is the chief of staff of the CMC’s joint staff department, which oversees combat planning.

Rumors of a probe swirled this week after Zhang Youxia and Liu appeared to miss an official meeting chaired by Xi and attended by second-ranked CMC vice chairman Zhang Shengmin.

Xi has called graft “the biggest threat” to the Communist Party and said “the fight against corruption remains grave and complex.”

In October, China announced it had launched corruption investigations into nine military officials.

As part of those probes, the defense ministry said it had expelled two top generals from the military.

They were He Weidong, the former second-ranked CMC vice chairman, and Miao Hua, the former head of the military’s political work department.

In 2024, former Chinese defense minister Li Shangfu was expelled from the Communist Party after being ousted over offenses including suspected bribery.

Li’s predecessor, Wei Fenghe, was also expelled from the party and passed on to prosecutors over alleged corruption.

Proponents say the policy promotes clean governance, while others believe it also serves as a tool for Xi to purge political rivals.