LETTER FROM BEIJING: Xi Jinping Just Purged His Closest Ally

General Zhang Youxia was a sworn brother to the Xi family. Now he’s gone—and China’s military command stands gutted.

BEIJING — General Zhang Youxia spent his life proving loyalty.

A combat veteran of China’s 1979 war with Vietnam. A childhood friend of Xi Jinping since their fathers fought together in the revolution. A “sworn brother” to the Xi family across generations—the kind of bond that in Chinese culture means more than blood. The vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission and the operational commander of the People’s Liberation Army. The man who controlled the world’s largest military while Xi controlled the politics.

On Saturday, state media announced he was under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law.” By Monday, he was gone.

This is not routine. This is not just another corruption probe. Zhang’s removal—alongside General Liu Zhenli, chief of staff of the Joint Staff Department—marks the complete annihilation of China’s military high command.

Consider the numbers: Of the six generals Xi appointed to the Central Military Commission in 2022, all are now gone. Purged, arrested, or vanished. Only one uniformed officer remains beside Xi on the body that controls China’s nuclear arsenal and 2 million active-duty troops: General Zhang Shengmin, the man who presided over the others’ removal.

The question is not whether this is unprecedented. It is.

The question is what it means when a leader eliminates the man he trusted most. When a 75-year-old general with five decades of family ties to the president is accused of betraying everything he fought for. When the operational command of a nuclear-armed superpower is reduced to a chairman, an executioner, and silence.

It means trust—the currency that holds institutions together—is breaking.

And if it can break in Beijing, between men whose families bled together for the revolution, it can break anywhere.