Zhang, 75, and Liu, 61, are the vice-chairman and member of the Central Military Commission (CMC) respectively.
China said on Saturday (Jan 24) that the vice-chairman of its powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) and another high-ranking official have been placed under investigation over suspected “serious violations of discipline and law”, a common euphemism for corruption.
“Following a review… it has been decided to initiate an investigation into Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
Zhang, 75, is one of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s longest-serving allies in the armed forces.
A career army officer and war veteran, Zhang oversees military operations, training and weapons procurement within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). His ties with Xi reportedly run deep, with their fathers being revolutionary comrades.
Liu, 61, is a member of the CMC, and its Joint Staff Department chief, responsible for overseeing the PLA’s joint operations, training and combat readiness.
Zhang and Liu were last seen in public on Dec 22, when they attended a CMC ceremony conferring the rank of general on two senior officers.
Xi – who is also CMC chairman – was present at the event, and Zhang read out the promotion orders signed by Xi, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Aside from the two newly promoted generals, CCTV footage showed four full generals in attendance: Zhang Youxia and Zhang Shengmin – who was named CMC vice-chair last October, replacing the disgraced He Weidong – Liu and Defence Minister Dong Jun.
Saturday’s announcement came after about a week of speculation, largely confined to overseas Chinese-language and Taiwan-based media, that Zhang Youxia could be in trouble.
The reports highlighted Zhang Youxia’s absence on Jan 20 from a high-level study session on the fourth plenum that was attended by senior party and military leaders.
In footage of the event broadcast by CCTV, Zhang Shengmin appeared seated in the front row alongside other Politburo members. Zhang Youxia, a Politburo member, was not seen.
The reports also highlighted Liu as another notable absentee from the Jan 20 event. Others singled out included He Lifeng, who was attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, as well as Politburo members Shi Taifeng, head of the Organisation Department of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, and Ma Xingrui, former party secretary of Xinjiang.
Ma’s absence has stirred talk over his fate, with reports highlighting that he has been missing from public view for the last few months. No reasons have been floated for Shi’s no-show.
ANTI-CORRUPTION CRACKDOWN
The military was one of the main targets of a broad corruption crackdown ordered by Xi in 2012. That drive reached the upper levels of the military in 2023 when the Rocket Force was targeted.
Eight top generals were expelled from the ruling Communist Party on graft charges in October 2025, including the country’s number two general, He Weidong. He had served under Xi and alongside Zhang on the CMC,
He, along with ex-CMC Political Work Department chief Miao Hua, were expelled from both the military and the party, Reuters reported.
The former was succeeded by Zhang Shengmin, a general in Beijing’s secretive Rocket Force and who is not related to Zhang Youxia.
The 67-year-old Zhang Shengmin is a veteran political officer who has been secretary of the CMC’s Discipline Inspection Commission since 2017, serving as a key enforcer of Xi’s sweeping military clean-up.
Also among the fallen top brass were He Hongjun, Wang Xiubin, Lin Xiangyang, Qin Shutong, Yuan Huazhi and Wang Chunning.
