China’s military vice chairman Zhang Youxia placed under investigation

China’s defense ministry said Saturday that Gen. Zhang Youxia, a senior military leader long seen as a trusted deputy of Xi Jinping, is under investigation for unspecified breaches of laws and political discipline. Zhang, 75, was vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and was tapped by Xi to help lead an overhaul of the People’s Liberation Army that culminated in a major reorganization from 2015.

He joined the army in 1968, was a frontline officer in the 1979 border war with Vietnam, and led the military’s armaments department from 2012 to 2017. An editorial in the Liberation Army Daily suggested accusations of corruption and disloyalty, saying Zhang and Gen. Liu Zhenli had “trampled on” the authority of the military chairman and “severely undermined the party’s absolute leadership over the military.” The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, has reported an allegation that Zhang leaked nuclear secrets to the United States; Jake Sullivan, the U.S.

national security adviser who met Zhang in Beijing in 2024, said the nuclear discussion then was general and that Zhang said nothing sensitive or substantive. The reasons for Xi’s move remain a subject of speculation: some experts say Zhang may have become too powerful, others that deep systemic corruption required drastic action.

Key Topics

World, Zhang Youxia, Xi Jinping, Central Military Commission, People's Liberation Army, Liu Zhenli