China removes top military general over suspected discipline violations

The surprise announcement made Saturday leaves the Chinese president with sole and total control over China's military operations.

China made a major announcement over the weekend, saying it was investigating the army’s top general for suspected serious violations of discipline and law.

Gen. Zhang Youxia was the highest military member just below President Xi Jinping.

The Defence Ministry said Saturday that authorities were investigating Zhang, the senior of the two vice chairs of the powerful Central Military Commission, China’s top military body, and Gen. Liu Zhenli, a lower member of the commission who was in charge of the military’s Joint Staff Department.

The move shakes up virtually the entire commission, chaired by Xi, leaving only one of its six members intact.

“Xi Jinping has completed one of the biggest purges of China’s military leadership in the history of the People’s Republic,” said Neil Thomas, a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.

For the army and China in general, the full impact of the changes is still unknown. But some experts say the moves also might have repercussions on Beijing’s next move on Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own territory.

Here are some elements to understand why Gen. Zhang’s removal is important.

The Defence Ministry announced the measures Saturday but provided no details on the alleged wrongdoing. The next day, the People’s Liberation Army Daily published an editorial that fell short of explaining the specific reasons, saying only that it was “for suspected serious violations of discipline and law” and showed China’s commitment to punish corruption. That is something Xi has pursued since the early days of his presidency.