China on Monday, 21 September 2026, expelled two of its senior military leaders, Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, from the Communist Party and the military over official accusations of disloyalty, corruption and serious disciplinary and legal violations, following several months of investigations.
Zhang and Liu's positions in the military leadership
Zhang was a member of the Communist Party's Politburo and vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, China's highest military leadership body, making him the second-ranking military leader after President Xi Jinping, who chairs the commission. Liu was a member of the commission and head of its Joint Staff Department.
China's Ministry of Defence said the party's Politburo held a meeting on 21 September to review two reports submitted by the Central Military Commission on the findings of its investigations into Zhang and Liu, before approving their expulsion from the party and the military. Suspected criminal cases were referred to military prosecutorial authorities for further legal proceedings.
Political and disciplinary accusations against the two leaders
According to official documents reported by Xinhua News Agency, the two former leaders were accused of seriously violating political discipline and political rules, forming close-knit groups and factions within the institution, and lacking loyalty and honesty towards the party. They were also accused of failing to enforce strict party discipline and to supervise family members and close aides.
The documents added that Zhang and Liu had used their positions to help others secure promotions and job arrangements, and had improperly accepted gifts and money. They said the political and economic violations attributed to the two men were intertwined, with the pursuit of wealth through corruption accompanied by dereliction of duty and abuse of power.
Chinese authorities described the sums linked to the two cases as exceptionally large, saying the nature of the violations was extremely serious and their impact grave. The accusations remain based on the findings of the official investigation, while military prosecutorial authorities will handle the suspected criminal aspects.
The authorities announced in January 2026 that they had opened investigations into Zhang and Liu on suspicion of serious violations of discipline and the law. The two men were later removed from the Central Military Commission in late August, before their official expulsion from the party and the military was announced in September.
The decision came as part of an ongoing campaign within China's armed forces targeting corruption and disciplinary violations, alongside the leadership's efforts to reinforce the military's subordination to the party's authority. Xi had stressed in remarks published in March that no one in the military should harbour disloyalty towards the Communist Party.
