On December 27, 2025, four senior Chinese military generals, including former vice chairman of the Central Military Commission He Weidong, were removed from their positions as National People’s Congress deputies. Since the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, a total of 27 senior military leaders have been removed from the position of National People’s Congress deputies, with 11 of them being generals.
Following the closing of the meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the Chinese Communist Party on December 27, 2025 (last Saturday), it was announced that a total of 8 individuals were removed from their positions as deputies of the 14th National People’s Congress, including 5 senior military leaders: General He Weidong, Deputy Director of the Political Work Department of the Military Commission He Hongjun, Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Military Commission Wang Renhua, General Zhang Hongbing, Political Commissar of the Armed Police Force, and Lieutenant General Wang Peng, Director of the Training Management Department of the Military Commission.
Among them, Generals Wang Renhua and Zhang Hongbing, as well as Lieutenant General Wang Peng, were confirmed to fall from grace for the first time.
Two months ago, on October 16, a bulletin issued by the National People’s Congress revealed that General Wang Chunning, Major General Zhang Lin, Lieutenant General Gao Daguang, and Lieutenant General Wang Zhibin were removed from the National People’s Congress.
Since the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, a total of 281 deputies to the 14th National People’s Congress were elected from the Chinese military and armed police forces, including around 30 generals.
So far, 27 senior military leaders have been removed from their positions as deputies of the 14th National People’s Congress, including 11 generals: Vice Chairman of the Military Commission He Weidong, Members of the Military Commission and Director of the Political Work Department Miao Hua, Member of the Military Commission and Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu, Commander of the Rocket Force Li Yuchao, former Commander of the Rocket Force Zhou Yaning, former Commander of the Air Force Ding Laihang, Commander of the Armed Police Force Wang Chunning, Political Commissar of the Navy Yuan Huazhi, Deputy Director of the Political Work Department of the Military Commission He Hongjun, Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission Wang Renhua, and Political Commissar of the Armed Police Force Zhang Hongbing.
In addition, 13 major generals and 3 brigadier generals were removed from their positions as deputies of the 14th National People’s Congress. The 13 major generals include: Deputy Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff Department of the Military Commission Zhang Zhenzhong, former Deputy Minister of the Equipment Development Department of the Military Commission Zhang Yulin, Deputy Commander of the Southern Theater Command and Commander of the Navy of the Southern Theater Command Ju Xinchun, Deputy Commander of the Rocket Force Li Chuanguang, former Deputy Commander of the Central Theater Command Li Zhizhong, former Deputy Commander of the Army Deng Zhiping, former Deputy Commander of the Southern Theater Command and Commander of the Navy of the Southern Theater Command Li Pengcheng, former Deputy Commander of the Army You Haitao, Minister of the Logistic Support Department of the Military Commission Zhang Lin, Political Commissar of the Joint Logistics Support Force Gao Daguang, Director of the Training Management Department of the Military Commission Wang Peng, Chief of Staff of the Navy Li Hanjun, and Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Rocket Force Wang Zhibin. The 3 brigadier generals are: Director of the Equipment Department of the Rocket Force Lv Hong, Deputy Minister of the Equipment Development Department of the Military Commission Rao Wenmin, and Auditor General of the Audit Office of the Military Commission Sun Bin.
The 11 generals who were removed from the position of National People’s Congress deputies were all promoted to generals after Xi Jinping took office as the leader of the Chinese Communist Party. Currently, several other generals serving as National People’s Congress deputies are rumored to be under investigation, including former Commander of the Air Force Chang Dingqiu, former Political Commissar of the Air Force Yu Zhongfu, former Political Commissar of the Navy Qin Shengxiang, Minister of the Equipment Development Department of the Military Commission Xu Xueqiang, President of the National Defense University Xiao Tianliang, and Political Commissar of the Military Science Academy Ling Huanxin.
On October 17, 2025, the Ministry of National Defense of the Chinese Communist Party announced the expulsion of nine generals, including He Weidong and Miao Hua, from the party and the military on the eve of the Fourth Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. At the Fourth Plenary Session, 22 central committee members and 14 alternate central committee members were notably absent. Among the absent 22 central committee members, 18 were military committee members. Eight central alternate committee members were not traditionally appointed, including five lieutenant generals such as Fang Yongxiang, Director of the Office of the General Staff of the Military Commission.
After the Fourth Plenary Session, signals of continued cleansing within the military were evident. On November 25, 2025, a Chinese Communist Party military newspaper published an article titled “Completely Cutting Out the Tumors, Clearing Out the Source of Poison, and Purifying the Flow of Drugs,” stating that He Weidong and Miao Hua were “deeply influenced by the toxic influence of Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, behaving similarly and even worse,” and emphasizing the need to “eliminate the toxic influences.”
On December 25, a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party declared that in 2026, efforts to comprehensively and strictly govern the party would be advanced with higher standards and more concrete measures. On December 26, a Chinese Communist Party military newspaper revisited the cases of He Weidong and Miao Hua, stating that “there must be no room in the military for corrupt individuals” and calling for the “elimination of bad elements.” These signs indicate that the military cleansing operation is still ongoing.