In recent years, internal turmoil and purges within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) military have been escalating. Not only have the number of military representatives in the National People’s Congress dramatically decreased by 46 people, but also within the military’s electoral institution known as the Military Election Committee (referred to as the Military Election Committee), 9 out of the initial 11 members, including Director Zhang Youxia, have encountered issues. The subsequently appointed Fang Yongxiang has also mysteriously disappeared.
On August 28th of this year, the 14th NPC Standing Committee of the CCP removed Zhang Youxia from the position of Vice Chairman of the National Central Military Commission, removed Liu Zhenli from the position of member of the National Central Military Commission, and at the same time revoked the qualifications of Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli, former commander of the Strategic Support Force Ju Qiansheng, and former director of the General Office of the Central Military Commission Zhong Shaojun as national NPC deputies.
At the beginning of 2023, the 14th National People’s Congress of the CCP had just elected 281 military and armed police representatives. As of now, 46 senior military leaders have been publicly removed from their positions as National People’s Congress deputies, including 22 generals, 18 lieutenant generals, and 6 major generals.
Recently, a screenshot of the announcement of the establishment of the CCP Military Election Committee has been widely circulated on the internet.
According to public information, the CCP Military Election Committee is mainly responsible for so-called “elections” of military NPC deputies and reviewing the qualifications of military NPC deputies.
On the evening of December 30, 2022, the CCP National People’s Congress Standing Committee released the list of members of this term’s Military Election Committee. The director was Zhang Youxia, the vice director was He Weidong, and the members included Li Shangfu, Liu Zhenli, Miao Hua, Zhang Shengmin, Zhong Shaojun, Wang Renhua, He Hongjun, Wang Chengnan, and Sun Bin.
This list included a total of 11 people, except for Zhang Shengmin (Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the CCP) and Wang Chengnan (Deputy Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission). Currently, 9 out of these 11 people have been arrested.
Among them, on August 31, 2023, Li Shangfu, a member of the Central Military Commission and Minister of National Defense, was investigated. On May 7, 2026, Li Shangfu was sentenced to death with a reprieve, life imprisonment, without the possibility of sentence reduction, parole or commutation.
On October 17, 2025, He Weidong, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, Miao Hua, former director of the Political Work Department of the Military Commission, and He Hongjun, Executive Deputy Director of the Political Work Department of the Military Commission, along with 9 others, were under investigation and subsequently expelled from the Party and the military.
On October 28, 2025, the CCP NPC Standing Committee announced that Sun Bin, Deputy Auditor General of the Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Military Commission, had been stripped of his qualification as a national NPC deputy.
After the conclusion of the CCP NPC Standing Committee meeting on December 27, 2025, it was announced that 8 individuals, including Wang Renhua, Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Military Commission, had been removed from their positions as national NPC deputies.
On January 24, 2026, Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli were officially announced to be under investigation. On August 28, the CCP NPC Standing Committee announced the removal of Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli, Ju Qiansheng, and Zhong Shaojun from their positions as national NPC deputies.
It is worth noting that according to Xinhua News Agency of the CCP on December 27, 2025, the CCP NPC Standing Committee meeting appointed Zhang Shengmin as Deputy Director of the CCP Military Election Committee to replace the fallen He Weidong.
Additionally, in September 2024, the CCP NPC Standing Committee announced the appointment of Fang Yongxiang as a member of the Military Election Committee. At that time, Fang Yongxiang had already been promoted to the director of the General Office of the Military Commission. His entry into the election committee was likely a replacement for the former director of the General Office of the Military Commission, Zhong Shaojun.
However, Fang Yongxiang has been missing for a long time. At the Fourth Plenary Session last year, he was listed as a candidate member of the Central Committee and should have been promoted to a full member in order, but he was skipped over. Speculations abound that he has been investigated.