Despite the recent display of strength by the Chinese Communist authorities, which allowed the Rocket Army to launch the “Dongfeng” intercontinental missile towards the Pacific Ocean during the United Nations General Assembly and even produced a music video “Dongfeng Break” to show off, looking back at the military, the crackdown has not ceased, causing unease among the military leaders.
On October 6, Chinese-Australian scholar Li Jun posted on X stating that Qin Shengxiang was taken away for investigation. Li Jun said, “Military reform is an unprecedented purge. Qin Shengxiang is the director of military reform and has made a mess of the troops. He should have been arrested long ago!”
On the same day, Li Jun told Epoch Times that she received the information from a friend in China, a CEO of a listed company. However, it is difficult to verify the information as these matters are kept secret by the Chinese Communist Party.
Earlier in early September, there were also multiple sources on social media indicating that General Qin Shutong, the political commissar of the army, was being investigated.
These unverified rumors are hard to confirm with the Chinese Communist Party, but in the past, many senior military officials and high-ranking military industrialists have faced trouble, mostly revealed through online leaks, which later turned out to be true. For instance, Rocket Army generals such as Li Yuchao, Liu Guangbin, Zhang Zhenzhong, Sun Jinming, and high-ranking military industrialists Wu Yansheng, Yuan Jie, Chen Guoying, and Tan Ruisong, have all encountered issues.
Therefore, we cannot directly affirm or deny the credibility of this round of leaks. Even if many generals are indeed brought down, unless they are also delegates of the National People’s Congress or members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the authorities will never disclose their downfall.
The two Qins in the military — Qin Shengxiang and Qin Shutong — have complex backgrounds.
Qin Shengxiang, born in February 1957 in Jianli, Hubei Province, comes from Xi Jinping’s troops, the 38th Army. He has held various positions such as political commissar of the 112th Division of the 38th Army and Deputy Minister and Minister of the Organization Department of the General Political Department. After Xi Jinping consolidated power following the 18th National Congress of the CCP, he began to trust and employ Qin Shengxiang more. In December of that year, Xi Jinping promoted Qin Shengxiang to director of the PLA General Office, making him the “commanding officer” of the military.
In early 2016, when Xi Jinping carried out a major military reform, abolishing the General Staff, the General Political Department, the Logistics Department, and the Equipment Department, and splitting them into 15 functional departments, the PLA General Office was listed as the head of the 15 PLA organs. In August 2016, Qin Shengxiang also served as the director of the Reform and Organization Office of the Military Commission. He is the only general among the 15 PLA organs of the CCP’s Military Commission to hold the positions of two department heads. As the “commanding officer” of the military, Qin Shengxiang was in charge of the military reform, restructuring personnel, and everyone had to curry favor with him at that time.
In January 2017, Qin Shengxiang was officially confirmed at the theater level and transferred to the Navy as the political commissar in August, then promoted to Admiral in July 2019. After retiring last year, he became a standing committee member of the National People’s Congress and deputy director of the Social Construction Committee.
In 2017, when Xi Jinping brought Zhang Shaojun, who was from Zhejiang, to the military to replace Qin Shengxiang, it was already at the end of the military reform. By the end of that year, the Armed Police Force came under the direct leadership of the Central Military Commission.
However, as the corruption of the Rocket Force established during the CCP’s military restructuring was exposed last year, and another force, the Strategic Support Force, established at that time, was also disbanded, signifying the thorough failure of Xi Jinping’s military reform. If Qin Shengxiang is arrested, it would be a blow to Xi Jinping.
Some may say that Qin Shengxiang was cultivated by Xu Caihou, a fallen military official who “died of illness” after being purged. Xi Jinping’s promotion of Qin Shengxiang was merely a transition. This may be true, but the fact that Xi Jinping used someone from Xu Caihou’s circle to handle personnel matters during a critical period of military reform raises questions about his judgment in personnel selection.
Likewise, there are rumors about the downfall of active General Qin Shutong, born in November 1963 in Jiangyan, Jiangsu Province. He has served as the director of the Political Department and deputy political commissar of the Fujian 31st Group Army, and was later labeled as a member of Xi Jinping’s trusted circle. He then served in the Army’s 1st Group Army before becoming the political commissar of the 75th Group Army after the military reform and director of the Army’s Political Work Department. In January 2022, Qin Shutong was promoted to the position of Army Political Commissar and concurrently promoted to General.
Former PLA Navy Colonel Yao Cheng commented on X that Qin Shutong is likely affiliated with Miao Hua, one of Xi’s trusted personnel. “It appears that Zhang Yuxia may have been involved in investigating him, but I think Miao Hua might be protecting Qin. The situation has become quite complicated.”
According to external factional divisions within the military, those originating from the original Fujian 31st Army, such as He Weidong and Miao Hua, are associated with the Fujian faction, also known as the Taiwan Strait faction, while Zhang Yuxia is believed to be part of the Shaanxi faction or the Vietnam War faction (having participated in the Vietnam War). Aside from the fallen Li Shangfu, Liu Zhenli, a military commission member who also fought in the Vietnam War, is a follower of Zhang Yuxia, and the Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Zhang Shengmin is affiliated with the Shaanxi faction, supporting Zhang Yuxia.
Around the time of the Third Plenum in July and the Beidaihe Meeting in August, rumors spread from within China to overseas about Xi Jinping’s serious illness and loss of military power. Even retired senior cadres such as Leng Jifu openly wrote letters, saying they learned via WeChat that Xi Jinping was seriously ill and unable to work, with the overall work of the party, government, and military falling on Zhang Yuxia and He Weidong, hoping to seize the opportunity to drive the CCP out.
Although Xi Jinping resurfaced later and rumors of his sidelining of military power were quashed, whispers about “Xi’s control of the military being just an empty shell” have been circulating. Recently, there were rumors of infighting within the Beijing official circle of the CCP’s Central Military Commission, with veteran princeling Zhang Yuxia finally unable to tolerate Xi Jinping and He Weidong of the Fujian faction.
It is said that the main reason is that last year, Xi Jinping and He Weidong investigated a large number of personnel in the equipment system, most of whom were loyal to Zhang Yuxia. Although Xi Jinping once stated that he would shield Zhang Yuxia from responsibility in the investigation of equipment development, he later publicly exposed former Defense Minister Li Shangfu for bribing, causing suspicions within the military and pointing fingers at Zhang Yuxia. Zhang Yuxia has a deep foundation in the party, government, and military, and has connections with living CCP elders. If he were to formally turn against Xi, it would be very unfavorable for Xi.
（Epoch Times Exclusive）