Xi Jinping’s politics of absolute loyalty and purges

The purge is best understood not as an anti-corruption action, nor as evidence of imminent military confrontation, but asa continuation of Xi’s campaign to enforce personal authority, ideological conformity.

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The PLA Daily editorial published on 24 January 2026, titled “Resolutely Win the Critical Battle, the Protracted Battle, and the Overall Battle Against Corruption in the Military,” marks one of the most consequential moments in Xi Jinping’s ongoing restructuring of civil-military relations in China.

By publicly announcing the investigation of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, two of the most senior figures in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the editorial goes far beyond routine anti-corruption messaging. It functions as a political manifesto that reinforces Xi Jinping’s personal authority, reasserts Party supremacy over the gun, and exposes the deep anxieties surrounding loyalty within the PLA. Given the opacity of the Party’s internal decision-making processes, several plausible interpretations can be advanced.

First and foremost, the purge must be situated within the broader context of unprecedented turbulence in the PLA during Xi Jinping’s “new era.” According to a Caixin Global report in 2025, over the past dozen years nearly 80 generals have been investigated, including 13 full generals, 18 lieutenant generals, and more than 50 major generals. This scale of elite attrition is historically unparalleled in the PLA. Recent removals include former defence ministers Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe, former Rocket Force commander Li Yuchao, and Central Military Commission (CMC) member and Political Work Department head Miao Hua. These cases demonstrate that even officials once regarded as Xi Jinping’s trusted loyalists are not immune. The recurring pattern reveals a structural problem: “absolute loyalty” is continually asserted but never fully assured.