China's military just saw one of its most powerful figures fall under accusations that go far beyond routine corruption. At an internal briefing for top officers on Saturday, officials laid out allegations that Gen. Zhang Youxia—China's highest-ranking active-duty general and long viewed as a close ally of Xi Jinping—leaked sensitive nuclear-weapons data to the United States, according to people familiar with the closed-door session who spoke to the Wall Street Journal. Zhang, 75, is also accused of taking large bribes in exchange for promotions, building rival patronage networks inside the People's Liberation Army, and abusing his authority on the Central Military Commission, the party's top military decision-making body. China's Defense Ministry publicly announced an investigation into Zhang the same day as the meeting, but offered only the standard language of "severe violations" of party discipline and law.
The most serious claims center on an alleged security breach in China's nuclear sector. Investigators have reportedly tied Zhang to information provided by Gu Jun, the former head of China National Nuclear Corp., which oversees both civilian and military nuclear programs. Gu is also under investigation. Details of what was allegedly passed to the US were not disclosed in the briefing, the sources said.
Zhang's downfall is rippling through the upper ranks. Authorities have seized phones from officers who rose with him and with Gen. Liu Zhenli, the PLA's joint staff chief, who is also under investigation. Zhang is further accused of accepting large sums to help elevate Li Shangfu, the former defense minister ousted last year for corruption. Analysts say the breadth of the purge that has been happening since 2023—affecting the army, navy, air force, strategic-missile force, paramilitary police, and key theater commands—amounts to the most far-reaching shake-up of China's military leadership since the Mao Zedong era, leaving just one professional officer currently serving on the CMC. The probe into Zhang comes after nine top generals were expelled in October in one of China's biggest public military crackdowns in decades, the BBC reports.
What's driving Xi's crackdown remains murky in China's opaque political system. Official messaging has framed Zhang as someone who undermined the CMC chairman's authority, suggesting Xi saw a rival power center forming around his longtime ally. Experts say the sweeping clear-out underscores Xi's confidence in his grip over the PLA, even as it may temporarily weaken China's ability to carry out large, complex operations—potentially affecting timelines for any move against Taiwan. (Taiwan, Reuters reports, is monitoring what it says are "abnormal" changes to China's military leadership.) The Washington Post says the "stunning" investigation into Zhang is part of "an unprecedented consolidation of military power under the country's leader."
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