The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), led by General Secretary Xi Jinping, expelled two former defense ministers, Le Shangfu and predecessor Wei Fenghe in late June 2024, after stripping them of their military titles.
The move is the latest in Xi’s ongoing campaign to eliminate “corruption” among the military ranks and consolidate his power. In the past year, Xi has purged at least 11 senior military officers and three defense industry executives, most of whom were involved with weapons procurement or the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) rocket force, which manages nuclear and ballistic missiles.
Analysts see similarities between Xi’s “anti-corruption” campaigns and those by Mao Zedong, the CCP’s founding leader, in the 1940s.
Some contend that the intensifying crackdowns are fostering a climate of fear in the Chinese military and government, creating a demoralizing effect that ultimately undermines Xi’s ability to lead the nation.
In June 2024, the CCP accused Li and Wei of “serious violation of party discipline and the law,” including taking bribes and being disloyal to the party, and confirmed it had launched investigations into their activities, according to Chinese state news agencies.
The CCP has not discussed the whereabouts of Li and Wei. The men face criminal charges and potential death sentences, according to news reports.
Xi fired Li in October 2023, seven months after naming him defense minister. Li has not been seen publicly since August 2023, after his title as state councilor was also removed.
Wei held the post from 2018 to 2023, preceding Li.
Xi likely finds the generals’ apparent loss of faith in the CCP upsetting because they could indicate deeper problems in the People’s Liberation Army, including insubordination at the senior levels, Andrew N.D. Yang, an expert on the PLA, told The New York Times newspaper.
“I think we can expect comprehensive investigations into the military, not only in the Rocket Force, but also in other sectors,” said Yang, who previously served in Taiwan’s defense ministry. As a result of this instability, others inside the PLA may challenge Xi’s abilities to lead the military, Yang said.
The crackdowns are “reducing incentive to be creative, entrepreneurial and risk-taking, which had been the driving force of [the PRC’s] economic growth since 1979,” political scientist Lynette Ong from the University of Toronto told the BBC in February 2024.
Military systems that are run by political parties typically face management problems, analysts say.
“Xi Jinping is in charge of promotions and Xi Jinping is also in charge of arrests,” Lin Ying-yu, an expert on the Chinese military at Taiwan’s Tamkang University, told The Washington Post newspaper. “Within the military structure of the PLA, the overall system lacks oversight and monitoring.”
Observers also see the pitfalls of Xi surrounding himself with “yes men.”
“At this point, Xi is not looking for frank advice. He is looking for loyalty,” Alex Payette, chief executive of Cercius Group, a Montreal-based consultancy focused on Chinese politics, told the BBC. “Xi seems to have fallen prey to being constantly praised by cadres who only seek to be promoted. Looking at early Party history, he should have known that Party cadres engage in flattery to avoid being purged and gain access to the upper echelons of the Party-state apparatus.”
For Xi to achieve his ambitions, which include modernizing the PLA and absorbing Taiwan, his control of the CCP’s armed forces is critical, analysts say.
By 2014, within two years of coming to power, Xi had investigated and jailed two former members of the CCP’s Central Military Commission, which controls the PLA and which Xi oversees. By 2017, he had removed more than 100 senior officers, according to the BBC, which cited Beijing’s Xinhua state news agency reports that the removals “far exceeded the number of generals killed in wars to create the new China.”
Xi’s quest for control extends beyond the military establishment. In July 2023, Xi removed Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, once thought to have close ties to the party leader. Before the announcement, he had not been seen in public for a month. Xi stripped him of his title in October 2023.
