Zhang Yuxia: A veteran Chinese prince caught up in Xi’s military purge
China’s announcement that its top general is under investigation stunned defense observers, weakened the country’s top military body and underscored the far-reaching authority of President Xi Jinping.
Zhang Yuxia, Vice Chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission Targeted for investigation For committing serious violations of the law – a common euphemism for corruption.
Investigations always end in removal.
Until recently, Zhang’s sudden sidelining was largely unexpected, given his long military tenure and his perceived closeness to Xi.
The powerful, square-faced general was often photographed standing next to the president during officer promotion ceremonies last December.
It has survived several previous rounds of anti-graft campaigns through the CMC since its seven-person list was decided during the last party congress in 2022.
Another CMC official, Liu Xinlei, is also under investigation, leaving intact only two known members of the committee: Xi Jinping and discipline czar Zhang Shengmin.
Military family
Born in 1950 to a military family less than a year after Communist leader Mao Zedong declared the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Zhang’s proximity to power dates back to his youth.
His father, Zhang Zongxun, is considered the “founding general” of the People’s Republic of China.
He served alongside Xi’s father when they were communist fighters in the northwest of the country.
The younger Zhang and Xi, now 75 and 72, are both “princes” – a term describing the children of revolutionary leaders who benefited from their family connections.
Professional life
Zhang joined the army at the age of 18 and rose through the ranks in a regiment based in the country’s southwestern Yunnan province, which borders Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.
He fought in border conflicts, including the weeks-long Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979, giving him rare combat experience.
The war, in which about 200,000 Chinese soldiers participated, was the last major armed conflict fought by the People’s Liberation Army forces, although clashes with Vietnam continued for about a decade.
Zhang later moved north and was eventually appointed commander of the Shenyang Military Region. He was appointed to the rank of general in 2011, and later became responsible for the procurement and development of weapons and equipment.
He was appointed to the Central Military Commission in 2012 when Xi became its chairman after rising to the top of the Communist Party.
Former US defense official Drew Thompson said during a Chinese delegation’s visit to the United States in 2012 that Zhang, who had learned to fight, “had an aura of competence surrounding him.”
“The officers stood up faster and straighter when he entered the room” and Zhang was “not afraid to talk to foreigners,” Thompson wrote in a Substack post about his encounter.
In 2017, Zhang was promoted to one of the posts of vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, and also joined the Communist Party’s elite body, the Politburo.
He assumed the position of First Vice President of CMC in 2022.
Links to Shi
Some analysts have described Zhang as a childhood friend of Xi’s, although others have questioned the claim.
Knowledge of their relationship is “limited,” according to Neil Thomas of the Asia Society, who studies elite Chinese politics.
The two men may have shared childhood circles in Beijing thanks to their father, both from the northern province of Shaanxi, but they did not work together until later in their careers.
However, Thomas wrote, the president oversaw Zhang’s rise, explaining “that Xi viewed him as a trusted colleague.”
Fall
Rumors of an investigation circulated days before it was announced, after Zhang and Liu appeared to miss an official meeting chaired by Xi and attended by the second-ranking vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, Zhang Shengmin.
But analysts pointed out that the problems began much earlier, pointing to the purge of former Defense Minister Li Changfu, who like Zhang oversaw military equipment.
The Defense Ministry did not specifically say why it opened the investigation into Zhang and Liu.
However, the People’s Liberation Army Daily, the Chinese military’s mouthpiece, said they were “corrupt elements” in a front-page editorial published on Monday.
She added that the “firm investigation and punishment” of Zhang and Liu “remove roadblocks” and “weaken combat effectiveness.”
An earlier editorial, published a day after Beijing announced the investigations, said their actions “undermined and seriously violated the system of responsibility of Chairman of the Central Military Commission”, Xi.
