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What kind of army will a country end up with if its top leader treats the entire military as a testing ground for his power, constantly promoting cronies, and then labeling these cronies as “two-faced”?
Since its establishment, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has regarded military power as the lifeline of its regime. Each party leader has attempted by all means to create a military that is absolutely loyal to them.
During Xi Jinping’s era, the experimentation of control over military power has reached an unprecedented intensity. Now, the results of this nearly 80-year experiment have finally emerged.
Today, based on the insider information and facts revealed in 2026, let’s take a look at the true face of this military power drama.
On May 7, 2026, the CCP suddenly announced that former Defense Ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve.
This was the first time a deputy ministerial-level defense minister had been sentenced to death with a reprieve since the CCP’s founding. It was also the first time a “big tiger” at the level of a Military Commission member had been sentenced to death with a reprieve since Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, as well as the first time two former Defense Ministers had been handled simultaneously in the post-20th Party Congress military purge.
According to the official verdict, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu were convicted of bribery. However, military corruption within the CCP has never been news. What truly shocked the public was the military’s characterization of these two individuals.
Following the announcement of the verdict, the CCP Liberation Army Daily published a commentary on the front page, emphasizing that the core issue with these two individuals was “having ulterior motives”, “losing loyalty”, and “seriously polluting the political ecology of the troops”.
In simple terms, the biggest problem with these two individuals was disloyalty to Xi Jinping. This is what makes the case truly frightening because Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu held special positions and were not just ordinary senior military officials.
Wei Fenghe was the first person appointed by Xi Jinping to the rank of General after he took office. Just eight days into Xi Jinping’s term, he personally appointed Wei Fenghe as a general. Later, Xi Jinping also appointed him as the first Commander of the Rocket Force.
What is the Rocket Force? It is the strategic core branch that Xi Jinping prepared to reunify Taiwan by force and deter the United States.
Subsequently, Wei Fenghe was promoted to become a member of the Central Military Commission, a State Councilor, and then the Defense Minister. It can be said that he was one of Xi Jinping’s earliest and most core military confidants.
Similarly, Li Shangfu was also a senior officer personally promoted by Xi Jinping. In 2019, Xi Jinping promoted Li Shangfu to the rank of General; in 2022, he further appointed him to the Central Military Commission; and in 2023, Li Shangfu was further promoted to serve as the Defense Minister.
In other words, both of these individuals were personally promoted by Xi Jinping. However, now the CCP suddenly tells the public that these two individuals were “two-faced” towards Xi Jinping.
This created a huge contradiction. If even the most core members of the Xi family’s army are disloyal to Xi Jinping, then who in the CCP’s military is truly loyal to Xi Jinping?
Within the first and second terms of Xi Jinping, approximately 7 Generals were investigated. However, in his third term, within a short period of over three years, more than 26 Generals had been investigated.
As of May 2026, out of the 7 members of the Central Military Commission, 5 had encountered issues. The five major war zones: Eastern, Western, Southern, Northern, and Central, as well as the Navy, Army, Air Force, Rocket Force, the Armed Police system, the National Defense University, and other major military institutions were all swept up in the cleansing storm.
The entire upper echelon of the CCP’s military was nearly upturned.
According to authoritative insider information, Xi Jinping’s purge of the military was carried out in stages and planned meticulously, targeting three key systems:
The first one is the national defense military-industrial complex system. Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu were the top representatives of this system. Wei Fenghe served as the first Commander of the Rocket Force, while Li Shangfu once served as the Minister of the Military Commission’s Equipment Development Department. These two individuals practically controlled the entire military industry and equipment system within the CCP. After the 20th Party Congress, this system was the first to be heavily purged, affecting advanced high-tech military branches such as the Rocket Force and the Strategic Support Forces.
The second system is the military’s political work system, with prominent figures such as Miao Hua and He Weidong. Miao Hua once served as the Director of the Military Commission’s Political Work Department, while He Weidong was also in charge of the Military Commission’s political work. Investigations into Miao Hua and He Weidong had already begun in 2024, and on October 17, 2025, they were announced to have been expelled from the party and the military, and were transferred to military courts for trial.
The third system is the military’s operational command system, represented by the Military Commission’s Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia, and Military Commission members and Chief of the Joint Staff Liu Zhenli. On January 24, 2026, these two individuals were simultaneously announced to have been removed from their posts. Subsequently, the CCP’s military publications swiftly released editorials, labeling these two major military figures with charges such as “violating the system where the Chairman of the Military Commission is in charge, affecting the Party’s absolute leadership over the military, and impacting the political ideology foundation of the entire military personnel, causing significant damage to the CCP’s governance foundation”, charges that were extremely rare.
In other words, from the weapons and equipment system to the political control system, and then to the operational command system, within his term, Xi Jinping conducted a comprehensive cleansing of the entire military system.
So, here comes the question. Why is Xi Jinping suddenly so uneasy?
According to overseas revelations, the CCP has even specified that the political secretaries of military officers of the rank of Senior Colonel and above must be approved by Xi Jinping himself.
This implies that Xi Jinping no longer trusts the normal military system. He must rely on another monitoring system to watch over military officers. This resembles historical espionage politics, similar to the late-stage purges of Stalin and Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution.
The likely reason for Xi Jinping’s unease is that he suspects the military is no longer loyal to him. Many people believe that Xi Jinping’s greatest fear is the United States. However, from this military purge, it appears that what truly terrifies Xi Jinping is the military itself.
In the spring of 2026, Xi Jinping’s actions presented significant abnormalities. Around the time of the two sessions, he actively avoided contact with the military. In March, during an inspection in Xiong’an, he did not conventionally visit the garrison. In April, while attending a conference in Shanghai, he also steered clear of the local military. On April 8, during a speech at an advanced training course for senior cadres at the National Defense University, few senior officers were present.
Behind this phenomenon lies widespread discontent and intense infighting within the military. Rumors suggest that factions supporting Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli may be preparing for a counterattack, with various groups operating secretly, placing Xi Jinping in a state of high alert.
For a supreme leader who has controlled the Military Commission for 14 years to become cautious and reluctant to delve into the grassroots of the military is alarming. A Chairman of the Military Commission turning into a nervous wreck being afraid of retaliation is the bitter fruit Xi Jinping has sown.
Moreover, behind the military crisis Xi Jinping faces lies an even greater issue — a Taiwan Strait war.
According to multiple sources, many senior military officials actually hold negative views towards Xi Jinping’s idea of waging war against Taiwan. Deep-rooted problems such as corruption, buying and selling of offices, and deception within the CCP’s military have led to even internal personnel questioning the true combat capability of such a military.
Especially in a potential Taiwan Strait war, purely from a military standpoint, it could be one of the largest sea and air blockade battles and amphibious landing operations in human history, with extremely high military risks.
Within the CCP’s military, a large number of senior officers, including former National Defense University Political Commissar, General Liu Yazhou, strongly oppose starting a war in the Taiwan Strait.
Liu Yazhou, who is the son-in-law of CCP elder Li Xiannian, and his stance on a Taiwan Strait war essentially represents the collective view of the princelings. They believe that Xi Jinping lacks the capability to command and lead such a major operation like a Taiwan Strait war.
There are even reports indicating that some high-ranking individuals think: if a Taiwan Strait war fails, power restructuring within the CCP may occur. As a result, many officers are unwilling to take the risk on behalf of Xi Jinping.
Therefore, Xi Jinping has begun to increasingly doubt the military, while the military has also become more afraid of Xi Jinping, leading to an extremely dangerous situation of mutual distrust.
Apart from the mutual distrust between Xi Jinping and the military, the spark that ignited this large-scale purge was actually another major event.
In October 2022, just two days after the conclusion of the 20th CCP Congress, the US Air Force University released a detailed 250-plus-page report on the Chinese Communist Party’s Rocket Force, which fully exposed the positions of Rocket Force bases, unit numbers, leader names, organizational structure, and deployment situations, essentially laying bare the Rocket Force’s hand.
And the Rocket Force happened to be the strategic branch that Xi Jinping valued the most. Consequently, the CCP’s top echelon was immediately thrown into turmoil. This was because it effectively meant that the CCP’s most core military secrets had likely been compromised.
Subsequently, the Rocket Force system began to shake violently. Wei Fenghe, Li Shangfu, and other high-ranking officials within this system, as representatives of the Rocket Force, Military Commission’s Equipment Department, as well as various departments related to the Military Commission, regional commands, and different branches of the military, were investigated, disappeared, or dismissed. A never-before-seen military cleanup officially kicked off.
Without moving a single soldier or troop, the United States had severely damaged the CCP’s military-industrial complex and military command chain. For the United States, this may have been one of the most successful cases in intelligence warfare in recent years. For Xi Jinping, this signified the profound failure of his military governance.
From the heavy sentencing of Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu to the widespread downfall of Generals, to Xi Jinping avoiding contact with the military, this series of events clearly shows that the CCP’s nearly 80-year experiment of controlling military power has reached an extremely perilous moment.
The infighting and resistance against the top leader within the military, as well as the overall lack of cohesion among the troops, all indicate that the military’s cohesion has severely fractured.
The final result given by this experiment of “absolute loyalty” to all military personnel is that power cannot buy genuine loyalty.
The current crisis within the CCP’s military is not just a military problem. It reflects the deep-seated fear within the entire CCP system. When a supreme leader continuously purges his confidants, what he truly faces may no longer be external enemies but rather internal collapse.
Alright, that wraps up today’s program. If you enjoyed “Century Truth”, please like, subscribe, and share it with more friends. See you in the next episode.
Production Team of “Century Truth”