The Chinese Communist Party’s political situation continues to be turbulent. Recently, the Ministry of National Defense of the CCP held a so-called military banquet in Beijing, with at least seven generals absent from the meeting, sparking external attention.
On July 31, the Ministry of National Defense of the CCP held a banquet at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to celebrate the so-called “98th Anniversary of the Founding of the Army”.
According to the official CCP media Xinhua News Agency, Liu Zhenli, a member of the Central Military Commission and the Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff Department of the Military Commission, and Zhang Shengmin, a member of the Central Military Commission and the Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Military Commission, attended the banquet. Minister of National Defense Dong Jun attended and delivered a speech. “Leaders of various departments of the Military Commission, relevant units stationed in Beijing’s military regions, and other units attended the banquet.”
On August 4, the Hong Kong media “Sing Tao Daily” reported that compared to the banquet last year, this year’s main table was missing seven current generals, including Wang Chunning, Commander of the Armed Police Force, Zhang Hongbing, Political Commissar of the Armed Police Force, and Yuan Huazhi, Political Commissar of the Navy. Representatives from the Political Work Department of the Military Commission and the Central Theater Command did not participate.
The YouTube channel “Zhong Gui Zhong Ju” compared the footage of CCTV from this year’s Ministry of National Defense banquet with last year’s, pointing out that there has been a significant change in the composition of personnel at the main table this year, “visually showing a situation of major reshuffling and turnover in the military.”
In 2024, the main table had a total of 21 people, including 19 current generals and two officials with military affiliations at the ministerial level. This year, the main table still had 21 people, but only 12 generals, with an additional 7 so-called exemplary figures from the military seated at the main table.
Last year, many units were represented by both commanders and political commissars, such as Army Commander Li Qiaoming and Political Commissar Qin Shutong, Air Force Commander Chang Dingqiu and Political Commissar Guo Pu-xiao, Armed Police Commander Wang Chunning and Political Commissar Zhang Hongbing, Central Theater Command Commander Wang Qiang and Political Commissar Xu Deqing.
The report pointed out that of the aforementioned eight individuals, only Chang Dingqiu and Guo Pu-xiao continued to attend this year, while the other six generals did not appear. This year, the Army was represented by the newly appointed Political Commissar Chen Hui. It is rumored that Li Qiaoming has retired, but he was still present at the CCP’s two sessions in March this year. Armed Police Commander Wang Chunning, who has not been seen for a long time, is believed to have been dismissed. Currently, the Acting Commander of the Armed Police is Major General Cao Junzhang.
Last year, Navy Commander Hu Zhongming did not attend the banquet due to a visit to Russia, while Navy Political Commissar Yuan Huazhi did attend. This year, both of them were absent from the banquet, with Yuan Huazhi not making any public appearances since the end of last year.
Former Director of the Political Work Department of the Military Commission and fallen General Miao Hua did not sit at the main table this year, and several absent generals from the banquet, including Qin Shutong, Yuan Huazhi, and Wang Chunning, were all part of his old team.
In addition, Deputy Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission Major General He Hongjun was also absent. “Zhong Gui Zhong Ju” believes that the position of the Political Work Department of the Military Commission is very important, yet this year, not a single representative sat at the main table, which is highly unusual.
Since coming to power, CCP leader Xi Jinping has promoted 79 generals, with at least 10 of them either being fallen or dismissed. Furthermore, at least 12 people have been rumored to be under investigation or missing, with an overall “incident rate” exceeding 20 percent.