With Xi Jinping’s purge, China’s military is weakened |
As vice-chair of the Central Military Commission (CMC), Zhang Youxia is not just China’s second-most powerful figure in its military (after President Xi Jinping). By all accounts, the country’s highest-ranking general is among the few commanders with extensive combat experience (Vietnam, 1978), and his personal ties with Xi run deep. Recent revelations that Zhang, along with fellow CMC member General Liu Zhenli, is under investigation for “suspected serious violations of discipline and law” cap Xi’s three-year purge of the entire top tier of China’s military........