China’s Central Military Commission (CMC) vice-chairman Zhang Youxia is under investigation for suspected “serious violations of discipline and law”, China’s Ministry of Defence confirmed on Saturday, Jan 24.
An editorial published the same day by the Chinese military’s official newspaper accused Zhang of seriously undermining the authority of the CMC chairman — a position held by President Xi Jinping.
Further details were reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which cited sources familiar with a high-level internal briefing. According to the report, Zhang is accused of leaking information about China’s nuclear weapons programme to the United States and accepting bribes in exchange for promoting a military officer to defence minister.
WSJ reported that part of the evidence stemmed from a former general manager of the China National Nuclear Corporation, who himself became the subject of an investigation earlier this week.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington told WSJ that the probe reflects Beijing’s “full-coverage, zero-tolerance approach to combating corruption”.
Another major allegation involves Zhang allegedly taking bribes to facilitate the rise of Li Shangfu, who later became defence minister. Li, once among China’s top seven military leaders in 2022, was removed from office in 2023.
Sources told WSJ that President Xi had ordered a special task force to investigate Zhang’s tenure as commander of the Shenyang Military Region between 2007 and 2012.
Authorities have also reportedly seized mobile devices belonging to officers who advanced their careers under Zhang and another senior general, Liu Zhenli, who was also reported to be under investigation.
