Public sentiment surrounding China's military purge is characterized by a mix of skepticism and cautious support. Many commenters express concerns about the purge being a façade for Xi Jinping's consolidation of power rather than genuine anti-corruption efforts. While some acknowledge the necessity of addressing corruption within the military, they worry about authoritarian implications, political motives, and potential instability in the military, especially regarding tensions with Taiwan.

Xi Jinping

Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

People's Liberation Army (PLA)

I'm curious to see if these consistent purges lead to an overall weaker PLA military. While purging reduces your chances of a coup in the meantime, it could have long term negative impacts if the replacement leaders are just incompetent yes men.

culman13

Well I for one am satisfied with the official explanation provided by the CCP and there is absolutely no reason to speculate on any alternatives.

Steezy_Six

Andres_F1

So that explanation is a lot worse than a simple bribery charge, were they possibly planning a takeover? Are things much more volatile in China than we know ?

Lazy-Gene-7284

  We apologize again for the fault in the military.  Those responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked have been sacked.

jetforcegemini

Corruption within military is serous problem as it hinder operational efficiency when the push come to shove.

Had Putin concentrated on purging rampant corruptions in Russian military and put it back to shape, he likely would have succeeded in overwhelming Ukarine but thankfully he did nothing and the rest is history.

macross1984

These are handpicked Xi loyalists. The recent purge of CCP officials over the last year is only weakening Xi. His decision to focus on increasing the budget astronomically for high tech and electric cars rather than focus on saving China's economy received a lot of push back. Likely his bets didn't work out. It looks like the party elders have gained power and plan to force him out.

TroXMas

Does CCP really represents the will of the chinese people ? If not it simply jeopardize the very intimate reasons of why the army should follow the "party".

KevinBaudruche

This happens every time China has a 5 year planning session.  Like clockwork.  Frightens everyone because those accused are probably innocent, and everyone knows this.

LadyZoe1

What I can never tell is:

Are they genuinely unacceptably corrupt?

Or acceptably corrupt and just pissed off Xi somehow?

etzel1200

CCP doing CCP things. These purges aren't uncommon, especially since Xi took power. The only slightly odd bit here might be that the Rocket force was purged earlier, and now they've purged a replacement guy.

&gt;[Top generals within the Rocket Forces](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-66369136) were also removed. One of their replacements was Wang Houbin - one of the nine officials now expelled from the party.

Just-Sale-7015

Can someone ELIF the relation between the army and the party?

WAGRAMWAGRAM

Hmmm I wonder what impact this will have on the PLA's plans to invade Taiwan...

!ping military&amp;Taiwan&amp;china

theredcameron

[deleted]

Maybe someone can provide more insight but some analysis I've come across stated that these particular purges of people who were pretty close to Xi is actually because of forces working against Xi forcing him to eliminate some of those close to him. 

If I remember correctly the central military commission is already understaffed before these two members were removed so I guess we'll see depending on who is installed or if it is kept empty.

Left-Arm2181

He is a Xi ally and an appointee to the CMC by him, and rival to Xi rival (and other vice chair) Zhang Youxia. Also, the big CCP plenum is coming up in days. Something is brewing for something like this to happen at this point, given the CCP's penchant of wanting to  not rock the boat as a show production doctrine. Also, let's not forget the enemies Xi made over his consolidation of power, and how many appointments he made within the party. Getting rid of the equivalent of the co-joint chief of staff of the armed forces is not ignorable.

steve_ample

*From Bloomberg News:*

China has expelled the country’s No. 3 military official from the Communist Party as President Xi Jinping widens his anti-corruption drive.

He Weidong, one of two vice-chairs of the Central Military Commission led by Xi, was found to have violated discipline and law, according to a statement by the Ministry of Defense on Friday.

bloomberg

I knew a businesseswoman in Beijing who had air force (PLAAF) license plates on her car, which enabled her to ignore toll booths, most traffic laws, and the rule about not driving on the sidewalk.

ETA: she was not in the air force

AcadiaLivid2582

General hostility continues! 🍯🍯🍯

incognitosd01

Corruption charges in the Chinese government "like handing out *speeding tickets* at the Indy 500"

DeHerg

Beyond the struggle for power, I think there's also a struggle about the way to deal with Taiwan. Xi Jinping seems hellbent on taking the island at some point, but I'm not sure the generals (who know it would be a slaughter) as that enthusiastic about it.

tanaephis77400

"Corruption Purge"? Call it what it is ... Purge.

NyriasNeo

Purge certainly. “Corruption”? That’s in the eyes of the beholder and in China, the only one that matters is Xi’s.

If anyone else wants to continue running the table on the long odds, then against Xi, they better start stacking the odds in the favor along with everyone else at the table.

Kan4lZ0n3

CCP doing a corruption purge seems ironic. Maybe it was not their flavor of corruption.

jaquesparblue

Yeah, corruption, riiiight… [rolls eyes]

Plenty-Salamander-36

_Leegion_

UnusualBreadfruit306

BS they’re all corrupt in one way or the other.  This is a purge to remove competitors or those who are impeding PoohBears goals

Couscousfan07

Blumcole

Does this mean anything to everyone else? Or is it just some inside baseball?

SigFloyd

&gt;...as Xi Widens Corruption Purge

Sounds like code language for a power struggle... and Xi is coming out ahead?

UnifiedQuantumField

For your information, all nine generals were appointed by Xi since he came to power. By Chinese political codes, they, at least, used to be his men.

zhbryan

GT7combat

“Corruption purge”

lol meanwhile Yu Menglong’s murder case gets buried under the rug along with the shell companies that are under his name. Apparently has something to do with money from military weapons

hesawavemasterrr

Corruption is a requirement to be in the ccp, it ensures absolute loyalty because every individual is always at risk of being ousted by the syndicate. 

They lost favour is what happened.

Gxgear

Xi seems to be having some serious problems with finding personnel. He is promoting people and then having to remove them, the big question is why? 

Are they too corrupt? Building alternative power bases? Not serious enough about fighting a war for Taiwan? Too serious about fighting a war for Taiwan? 

What is Xi not understanding correctly about the people he is promoting? Or the institutions he is promoting them into?

FromHopeToAction

Stalin: Ain't no one going to expel more officers than me!

Xi: Bet.

SparseSpartan

They'll either retire to the west or to a jail.

kimilsungfanbot

Again? How many round of purges have there been now?

Smartyunderpants

独裁专制下，腐败从来是看需要的，你是否腐败取决于你的位置和威胁；这个只不过是共产党内部派系斗争的一种结果而已；

Accomplished-Joke821

For the military positions he wants loyal but autonomous decisive charismatic leaders which is oxymoron. This is the reason why autocracies always fail on the long run. No matter how smart dictator himself is, he still needs top talents working for him and executing his will. Top talents are top talents only because they have their own opinion. Dictators can’t stand anyone arguing with them. He can’t build the army he wants. The choice is either loyal, but stupid. Or effective, but independent.

fugitivechickpea

He does not trust them.  They have become too independent; he needs people loyal to him personally.

aussiegreenie

Suspected of serious financial crimes. Good, there should be no place for corruption.

chemicaxero

Right-Edge9320

It's very hard to keep a top job under Xi. On one hand you need to be getting him the massive bribes and corrupt payments that made Xi and his family into multi-billionaires.

On the other hand you need to run the military well enough to prepare to colonize Taiwan.

The same thing happens to business leaders thatcant pay their bribes while making a fortune. They end up like Jack Ma, damages and decimated, or dead.

[https://archive.fo/YExSW](https://archive.fo/YExSW)

https://preview.redd.it/w5lph991sqvf1.jpeg?width=1080&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=c41fbc3f99dd2d9074f7f3a5119a29838a2ff8e7

sunnybob24

Got to admire the Donger clinging on the last vestiges of his hair like the little pink Chinese clinging on to their dignity protesting PowerPoint slides in a mid business school in England

i8wagyu

Nah China keep em!

We need those kinds of generals when the time for your invasion of Taiwan and other smaller weaker SEA countries comes!

Bitten_ByA_Kitten

Kim and Putin are putting egg on his face, but the alternative is admitting some form of tactical failure.   Autocrats are especially reluctant to do that 

Oh the timeline we get from no major leaders commanding true respect.

Jubjars

hermansu

Corruption is like cancer, you either let it spread endlessly or keep cutting it out, there’s no third option.

Certain-Group-5269

Damn. The firing of generals in China at this rate is an embarrassment for China and the entire leadership.  The corruption problem is deep and wide. It will take decades to clean this up.

Specialist-Bid-7410

Some comments contain too much imagination and too few facts.

Xi has been in power for over a decade, and his position is unshakable. Any major power struggles have long been settled. Xi's commitment to military development is evident to all, and most high-ranking officers today were promoted during his tenure. The idea of "personal loyalty" is a false premise.

Remember that rumor claiming China’s intercontinental strategic missiles were filled with water instead of fuel? That was a deliberate mistranslation of the Chinese term 注水. Literally, it means "injecting water," but its actual meaning is inflating project costs to embezzle funds. In recent years, China’s intensive upgrades in military equipment and expansion of its nuclear arsenal have created strong temptations for corruption at the top—and indeed, many have succumbed. The "water-filled missile" rumor emerged when these corrupt practices came under scrutiny. Now, it’s just the other shoe dropping.

Typically, such issues are handled gradually and discreetly to minimize public backlash. But we’re at a critical moment of potential military conflict—decisive action is needed, both to resolve the problem quickly and to deter others who might be tempted.

Abusing power for personal gain is a universal human tendency, and a well-funded military offers fertile ground for it. Rich soil grows strong wheat, but also strong weeds. Sooner or later, you’ll see a $1,280 coffeecup,a $10,000 toilet seat, or $6,000,000 for 9 goats—— "injecting water".

Any solution? Weed relentlessly.

fupeng1982

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9 top generals purged in a single day! Many of them were brought up to high positions in recent years by Xi. 

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After this purge, many general positions became vacant, no doubt in preparation for war.

Significant-Salt-758

Wonder if this had anything to do with that actor’s death on September 11th.

tyrantlubu2

It's laughable how little Westerners understand Chinese politics. They're still discussing corruption? Let me make this clear: the written reasons are never the real causes for their removal.

Electronic_West4869

Accomplished_Rip3559

Better than someone getting fired because of some bad job report data.

Steamdecker

A signal to countries that had long working relationships with these officials

light2go

Final round of uniting the front before major moves

koyko4

China has expelled nine senior military officials as part of an ongoing purge aimed at eliminating corruption within the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

China Military Purge

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