【Epoch Times, December 22, 2025】The ongoing purge within the Chinese Communist military continues. Explosive reports have emerged regarding a group of senior generals from the Air Force or with an Air Force background. This trend is attracting significant attention.
On December 11, 2025, well-known Chinese political scholar Liu Junning disclosed on the social media platform X that General Chang Dingqiu, the current Air Force commander, passed away from a sudden heart attack during his “disciplinary commission custody.”
This news has caused a stir both domestically and internationally, sparking widespread attention and commentary. However, to date, the Chinese authorities have not issued any “refutation,” and General Chang Dingqiu himself has not surfaced to “deny” the reports.
A search on Baidu Baike revealed that the entries for General Chang Dingqiu, Air Force political commissar Guo Puxiao, and Air Force deputy commander Yu Qingjiang have been deleted.
When clicking on the names of the current Air Force commander Chang Dingqiu and the current political commissar Guo Puxiao in the Baidu Baike entry related to the Chinese Communist Air Force, the result displays: “Sorry, the page you are visiting does not exist.”
From October 20-23, General Chang Dingqiu, Guo Puxiao, and Yu Qingjiang all attended the Fourth Plenary Session, but in the two months since then, they have not made any public appearances.
Central Committee member Zhong Shaojun, who attended the Fourth Plenum, has been dismissed from his position as the political commissar of the National Defense University. There have been no reports of him holding positions in the National People’s Congress or the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. The likelihood of Zhong Shaojun falling into trouble is high.
Based on the above situations, it can be inferred that the three Air Force generals present at the Fourth Plenum – Chang Dingqiu, Guo Puxiao, and Yu Qingjiang – may have also encountered issues.
According to a report by Xinhua News Agency, on June 2, 2025, former member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, Xu Qiliang, passed away in Beijing at the age of 75 due to illness.
Citing Beijing senior media personality Ma Ling, Hong Kong media revealed that Xu Qiliang suffered a sudden heart attack while jogging early in the morning. Despite official claims attributing his death to “heart disease,” a terse message from a military contact suggested a more complex reality: Xu might have experienced extreme anxiety after being marginalized following a series of high-pressure situations and the intensification of pre-war preparations in the Taiwan Strait, ultimately causing his sudden collapse. A direct statement from military friends indicated that “Xu Qiliang was scared to death.”
Given Xu Qiliang’s background as a top-tier Air Force pilot, good physical condition, retirement without work pressure, access to top-tier healthcare, and the longevity of retired officials of his rank within the CCP, it seems less likely that his death was caused by a sudden heart attack.
While official sources announced Xu Qiliang’s passing on June 2, Zhao Lanjian disclosed on X on May 31 that Xu Qiliang’s death was reported in the early hours of May 28. The discrepancy of five days between the official announcement and the leaked information raises questions.
Considering the frequent power struggles among the CCP’s top echelons, the opaque nature of current CCP high-level politics, and the series of abnormal incidents mentioned above, it is speculated that Xu Qiliang’s mishap might be linked to internal struggles within the military.
On October 29, 2025, Zhao Lanjian revealed on X: “Air Force Commander-in-Chief of the CCP, Ma Xiaotian, has been arrested. This is the twelfth time since 2023 that I have accurately revealed events of the CCP’s military and political high-ranking officials being purged in advance.”