What does seem clear is that Zhang’s purge — the most dramatic in a wave of military purges that has unfolded since 2023 — has raised questions about China’s strategy toward Taiwan, at a time when China’s military has been severely diminished by Xi’s anti-corruption campaign.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has emphasized the importance of advancing AI in his first formal meeting of 2026 with ministers.

President Xi Jinping’s move to probe his top general and one-time ally Zhang Youxia is the most stunning development yet in China’s biggest military purge in roughly half a century. It also has implications for Taiwan,

A combat veteran, Zhang Youxia was once seen as the most trusted man in Xi Jinping’s military. Now he has been accused of disloyalty to Mr. Xi.

Zhongnanhai, the Communist Party's political center, remains a black box after the ousting of China's most senior general.

The removal of Zhang and Liu reduces the CMC to its smallest size in history, leaving as its only members Xi, who heads the body, and Zhang Shengmin, a political commissar who leads the military’s anti-corruption watchdog and was promoted to CMC vice-chair in October.

He was the only senior military commander in China with enough accumulated authority to serve as a counterbalance to the Chinese president within the regime. Son of a founding general of the People's Liberation Army (PLA),