RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Through its publications INSS provides cutting-edge research, analyses, and innovative solutions on critical national security issues in support of the joint warfighter and Department of War stakeholders.

 
News | Feb. 5, 2026

Xi’s military purges will make him wary of invading Taiwan

By Phillip Saunders The Lowy Institute

On 25 January, China’s People’s Liberation Army announced that Central Military Commission Vice-Chair Zhang Youxia and Chief of the Joint Staff Department General Liu Zhenli were under investigation for “suspected serious violations of discipline and law”. The removal of China’s top general – thought to be Xi Jinping’s most trusted ally inside the Chinese military – and the PLA’s senior operational commander is shocking. Xi Jinping personally selected six CMC members in November 2022. He has now purged five of them.

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Xi Jinping People's Liberation Army (PLA) Chinese military Taiwan Strait China-Taiwan conflict Cross-Strait relations