China’s leader Xi Jinping has now reportedly expelled his second-most senior general, Gen. He Weidong, along with eight other high-ranking officers, in one of the most extensive purges of the People’s Liberation Army in decades.
The move underscores Xi’s deepening effort to enforce loyalty and eliminate corruption within a military that he has sought to transform into a modern, combat-ready force capable of projecting power abroad and challenging the United States.
Gen. He, one of two vice chairmen of the Communist Party’s Central Military Commission (CMC) and a member of the 24-man Politburo, was dismissed from both the party and the military for “severe disciplinary violations and abuses of power,” China’s Defense Ministry announced Friday.
The purge also swept up Adm. Miao Hua, the former head of the CMC’s political-work department, as well as ex-commanders of China’s missile force and paramilitary police, among others.
A Defense Ministry spokesman said investigators uncovered “serious duty-related crimes” involving “especially huge sums of money” that had caused “an extremely negative impact.” All nine officers will face court-martial. None were available for comment.
The crackdown raises questions about the stability of Xi’s grip on the armed forces, even as he consolidates political power at home. Xi chairs the CMC—the body that commands China’s two million troops—and has made loyalty to the Communist Party a centerpiece of his leadership.
But the removal of He, a handpicked protégé and one of the most senior figures in the military hierarchy, suggests unease within the ranks.
He is the highest-ranking active-duty officer purged under Xi and the first sitting CMC vice chairman to be ousted in nearly forty years. The 68-year-old general, who has not been seen publicly since March, was also the first Politburo member investigated since 2017.
His dismissal follows that of Gen. Li Shangfu, a former defense minister expelled from the party last year on corruption charges, and Adm. Miao, who was suspended amid a similar investigation in 2023.
The party has yet to announce replacements for the purged officers. Xi’s governing Central Committee, which may meet next week, is expected to fill the vacancies. Eight of the nine men removed on Friday were members of that committee.
Since taking power in 2012, Xi has made anticorruption drives a hallmark of his rule, using them to consolidate control and reshape the PLA. His reforms have centralized command authority under the CMC and elevated officers considered politically dependable.
Xi has also ordered sweeping investigations across China’s defense sector, ensnaring more than three dozen generals and weapons executives over the past two years.
He Weidong’s career was closely tied to Xi’s own. Both served in Fujian Province, near Taiwan, where Xi spent 17 years rising through the ranks of the Communist Party.
He led the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command—responsible for operations targeting Taiwan—from 2019 to 2022 before his rapid promotion to CMC vice chairman.
His downfall comes as Xi pushes the military to show “absolute loyalty to the party.” In July, the CMC issued new rules to “comprehensively eliminate poisonous influences” and restore “political cadres’ image and prestige.”
For a leader seeking to make China’s armed forces a global power, Xi’s latest purge may be as much about enforcing obedience as fighting corruption.
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