The recent purge of two top Generals in China has been attributed to an ongoing anti-corruption drive ordered by the country’s President Xi Jinping. Gen. Zhang Youxia was vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, a powerful body that controls the military. Gen. Liu Zhenli was the PLA’s Chief of Staff.
That leaves the Commission with just two members—Xi Jinping and Gen. Zhang Shengmin. All others, who were handpicked by Xi, have been booted out.
“This is politics at the highest level, and politics in Communist China can be ruthless,” says China specialist Vijay Gokhale. He isn’t surprised by what has happened and wouldn’t see this incident in isolation. In the last two years, Xi Jinping has removed five of the six top military officials he appointed and that’s unusual, the former Foreign Secretary told StratNews Global Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale.
Regime Insecurity
So what explains the dismissals? Vijay Gokhale points to what he calls deep regime insecurity. Chinese strongmen, be it Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping or Xi Jinping, have believed that the West is trying to topple the Communist Party and weaken China, he says. Not through war but through ideas such as democracy, constitutionalism and rule of law. And more importantly, there’s fear of the separation of the party and the state. Also, the party and the army. This is a direct challenge to what the Chinese Communist Party firmly believes in, says Gokhale. “The PLA is the sword arm of the party and is loyal to the party above the nation.”
Xi Jinping’s Nightmare
Xi Jinping’s worst nightmare is what happened in the Soviet Union will happen in China, says Vijay Gokhale. In 1991, the Red Army, which was meant to defend the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, failed to do so.
Xi would also have closely observed what happened in Venezuela and suspected sabotage from the military side. And also how Israel was able to decapitate the Iranian military high command last year.
So there may be concern about people in the PLA who may be in cahoots with the Americans or giving them information which will weaken Xi Jinping’s position. And I’m quite convinced that this is part of the reason for the removal of these Generals and for the broader military purge in China, says Vijay Gokhale.
Tune in to this conversation for more.
