According to Ms. Sheng Xue, a Chinese-Canadian writer and activist, a recent report from a former Chinese Communist military officer reveals that Xi Jinping has launched an extremely violent purge against Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Zhang Youxia, Chief of the Joint Staff Department Liu Zhenli, and their subordinates. The core personnel involved in the case of the purge have reportedly been “silenced” in large numbers, with hundreds of people arrested across multiple war zones. This move signals an escalation in power struggle within the military, as Xi Jinping is restructuring the command system of the army through covert means.
Ms. Sheng disclosed the information on January 28th on the social media platform X and in an interview with Sound of Hope. The former Chinese military officer claimed that the arrests of Zhang and Liu were not conducted during a regular meeting but were carried out in a sudden nighttime raid at their residence compound.
The source emphasized that the operation was conducted with extreme brutality: the duty soldiers, guards, and related staff of Zhang and Liu were reportedly “all eliminated,” with an estimated death toll of around 50. Due to the sudden nature of the operation, almost no one from the on-site guard and security personnel survived. This type of “silencing” action is interpreted by outsiders as an attempt by the Xi regime to completely cut off the grassroots contacts of the implicated generals and create absolute political terror within the military.
The scope of this major purge extends far beyond the central Beijing area. The former military officer also revealed that the southern war zone has been hit the hardest, with around 200 people related to the case being arrested, and a large number of generals in the eastern war zone also implicated.
The execution of the purge demonstrates characteristics of being “covert.” Many of the arrest operations reportedly involved armed special forces breaking into the scene during political study sessions or internal meetings. It is mentioned that if any of those arrested showed any signs of resistance on the spot, they were executed on the spot, aimed at creating a significant deterrent effect. Ms. Sheng pointed out that this form of settling scores, which goes beyond the norms of law and military discipline, is completely out of touch with modern state governance and more akin to the internal purges of extreme regimes during the Cold War.
The aforementioned source revealed that in terms of power operation mechanisms, Xi Jinping has established a spy management system modeled after the Ming Dynasty’s “East Factory, West Factory”.
Expansion of the disciplinary inspection commission: Xi Jinping has established two sets of supervisory systems within the disciplinary inspection commission, totaling between 200,000 to 350,000 people, which mutually supervise each other, directly obey the highest authority, and are accountable vertically through personnel surveillance rather than to a party committee of the same level.
Expansion of security forces: The personnel of the Central Guard Bureau are said to have expanded from an original thousand to over ten thousand, a several-fold increase.
Restructuring of the command system: After the restructuring from the seven military regions to five war zones, the original command chain was broken, and key positions were taken over by Xi’s confidants. The task of carrying out the purge is currently carried out not by conventional field forces but by a highly loyal, “covert armed force” that is not bound by local or military conventional restrictions.
Although Xi Jinping has temporarily stabilized the situation through iron-fisted methods, Ms. Sheng believes that this event has exposed the fragility of his rule.
She pointed out that the reported coup plan by Zhang Youxia and others was allegedly thwarted due to premature disclosure, reflecting an extreme lack of trust within the upper echelons of the Chinese Communist Party. However, this high-pressure rule is driving more officials to have a mindset of “jumping ship”. She mentioned that the recent recruitment plan by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) targeting Chinese Communist officials has been effective, leveraging the despair of elites within the Chinese system about the future.
She stated that relying solely on spontaneous efforts by the Chinese populace to dismantle the dictatorship is difficult, and strategic pressure from external forces – particularly the United States in financial and intelligence aspects – will be a key factor in accelerating the collapse of the Chinese Communist structure.
Ms. Sheng believes that the fate of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli once again proves that within the Chinese Communist authoritarian machine, whether top generals or ordinary civil servants, they are all disposable parts at any time. Xi Jinping would rather endure the turmoil caused by “madness” to ensure absolute personal control.
Currently, various factions within the Chinese Communist Party are in a situation where everyone is self-threatened. Ms. Sheng urges that, whether it is ordinary people or awakened officials, only by completely politically disconnecting from the Chinese Communist system can they seek a lifeline in the upcoming changes in the situation.