On January 25th, former deputy minister of the General Logistics Department of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Wang Tailan, passed away at the age of 86 “due to illness”. Official confirmation of his death was released approximately half a month later. The day before (January 24th), news broke that the Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, Zhang Youxia, and the Military Commission member, Liu Zhenli, were under investigation by the authorities. This news was followed by the delayed reporting of the deaths of two former military leaders associated with Zhang Youxia on January 29th and 30th, leading to speculation among the public.
According to the Xinhua News Agency on February 11th, Wang Tailan, a retired official of the vice military region of the Communist Party of China and former deputy minister of the General Logistics Department, passed away in Beijing due to ineffective medical treatment on January 25th at the age of 86.
Born in Dong’e County, Shandong Province, Wang Tailan joined the military in 1958. Official records indicate that he served as the Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the Jiangsu Military Region, as well as the Deputy Minister and Minister of the Logistics Department of the Nanjing Military Region.
Wang Tailan was a candidate member of the 15th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, a member of the 10th National People’s Congress Standing Committee, and a member of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee. He was promoted to the rank of Major General in 1988 and to Lieutenant General in 1994.
Wang Tailan’s passing coincided with the downfall of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, creating turmoil within the military. However, based on Wang Tailan’s resume, he did not directly intersect with Zhang Youxia.
Prior to the downfall of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, three retired senior generals had passed away.
On January 30th, the Xinhua News Agency reported that Wei Fulin, a former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, passed away in Beijing on January 15th at the age of 88 due to illness. The authorities waited half a month before announcing Wei Fulin’s death. Public records show that Wei Fulin had served as a corps commander and commander of the Chengdu Military Region, and was promoted to the rank of General in 2000, with Zhang Youxia once being his subordinate.
On January 29th, official media reported that Liao Xilong, former member of the Central Military Commission and former Minister of the General Logistics Department, passed away in Beijing on January 23rd at the age of 85 due to a “serious illness.” Liao Xilong’s death was delayed for a week before being announced.
Having participated in the Vietnam War, Liao Xilong was the “senior officer” of Zhang Youxia. According to a disclosure by independent commentator Cai Shenkun, Zhang Youxia was arrested on January 19th; the next day, Liao Xilong’s son and brother were also arrested. Liao Xilong made some phone calls but couldn’t figure out who had been arrested, and then suddenly passed away on the 23rd. Insiders revealed that Liao Xilong did not die “from illness” but was frightened to death or, more accurately, killed by distress.
In addition, on January 19th, the authorities also delayed reporting the death of retired Vice Political Commissar Wang Zheng of the Navy for half a month. Wang Zheng, who was promoted to Vice Admiral in 2019, reportedly passed away in Beijing on January 3 at the age of 64 due to ineffective medical treatment.
After the downfall of Zhang Youxia, on February 9th, an article in the Chinese military newspaper used the example of early Communist Party leader Zhang Guotao, who was accused of “forming a separate central authority,” as a negative case, claiming that the “residual corruption has not been completely eradicated” and called for “political rectification” to remove it. Zheng Haochang, a commentator on current affairs living in the United States, analyzed that this confirms the internal divisions within the Communist Party of China and may allude to the Zhang Youxia incident, suggesting that more retired senior military officials may face purging soon.