Purges in China’s PLA and Xi’s tightening grip

The annual legislative sessions of the Chinese People’s Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People’s Congress (NPC) — knownas the “two sessions” concluded on March 12.

- Devendra Kumar Jabin T Jacob

The annual government report presented by Premier Li Qiang signalled a broader continuity in economic policy while highlighting problems such as local debt and local cadre compliance with central directives. On the political front, however, the main news on the eve of the “two sessions”, was the revocation of the membership of more than a dozen officials of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). This move, predicted by several analysts, comes against the backdrop of a high-profile purge announced earlier this year, of General Zhang Youxia, former Central Military Commission (CMC) vice-chairman and a close ally of President Xi Jinping, and General Liu Zhenli, the chief of staff of the CMC.

What do these purges indicate about the stability of the Chinese political system and about the Communist Party of China (CPC) general secretary and CMC chairman Xi’s grasp on power?

The PLA purges have created tremors across the CPC. Following the January announcement of the two arrests, localand provincial-level “two sessions” meetings that lead up to the national-level meetings in March pledged to “unite more closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core”.