Pentagon: The current wave of purges touches ‘every service’ in the Chinese military and ’may have shaken Beijing’s confidence in high-ranking PLA officials.’
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) sweeping anti-corruption campaign may have undermined its efforts to modernize the military by 2027, the U.S. Department of Defense said in its latest annual report released on Dec. 18.
The Pentagon said in the report on Chinese military and security developments presented to Congress that the current wave of purges touches “every service” in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and “may have shaken Beijing’s confidence in high-ranking PLA officials,” which has been a top priority for leader Xi Jinping since he took command of the military in 2012.
Xi aims to achieve military modernization by 2035 and transform the PLA into a “world-class force” by 2049, the centennial anniversary of both the PLA’s founding and the establishment of communist China.
However, the Pentagon report stated that in 2023, “the PLA experienced a new wave of corruption-related investigations and removals of senior leaders, which may have disrupted its progress toward stated 2027 modernization goals.”
Between
July and December 2023, the regime officially fired at least 15 high-ranking military officers and defense industry executives, including several overseeing the equipment development projects related to modernizing the country’s ground-based nuclear and conventional missile capabilities, according to the report.
One of the most senior officials to fall from grace is former defense minister Li Shangfu, who was
removed from his post in October 2023 following two months of unexplained disappearance. In June this year, the CCP expelled Li and his predecessor, accusing them of abusing their powers and accepting massive bribes, state media said at the time.
Before his
promotion to the ministerial position in March 2023, Li headed the Equipment Development Department, a key branch under the Central Military Commission (CMC) responsible for weapons procurement. Over his six-year tenure, Li “would have signed off on all of the PLA’s weapons acquisitions,” the report stated.
In a rare move, the CMC put out a public notice calling for corruption tips in July 2023, initiating investigations into disciplinary violations dating back to October 2017. This initiative, the Pentagon report noted, signaled “significant concerns with the PLA’s modernization efforts more broadly.”
The anti-corruption campaign also ensnared several high-ranking officials commanding the PLA Rocket Force (PLARF), which is tasked with managing the country’s conventional and nuclear missiles. Those affected include the then-head of PLARF,
Li Yuchao, political commissar
Xu Zhongbo, and several other deputy commanders.
“The impact on PRC leaders’ confidence in the PLA after discovering corruption on this scale is probably elevated by the PLARF’s uniquely important nuclear mission,” the report stated, using the acronym of the regime’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.
The momentum of this campaign shows little sign of waning. On Nov. 28, Adm.
Miao Hua, a member of the military’s decision-making body—CMC—and trusted ally of Xi, was suspended and placed under investigation for suspicion of “serious violations of discipline,” according to Beijing’s defense ministry, using a euphemism for corruption.
The abrupt shake-up has fueled growing speculation about political infighting within the CCP’s upper echelon. Some analysts have interpreted these developments as a sign that Xi may be facing a
power crisis.
Adding to the uncertainty, the situation around the current defense minister remains unclear. Recent
reports indicated that Adm. Dong Jun, who assumed the ministerial post last December, is also subjected to investigation. While the regime’s foreign ministry has dismissed such claims as “
chasing shadows,” analysts said that the emergence of these speculations has already raised questions about Xi’s grip on power.
The Pentagon report pointed out that as of March, Dong was not a member of the CMC, and neither was he named as state councilor—positions previously held by his two predecessors.
In a separate
document accompanying the report, the Pentagon described as “uneven” the Chinese military’s progress toward its 2027 capability milestone, a development that, if achieved, could make “the PLA a more credible military tool for the CCP’s Taiwan unification efforts,” the Pentagon said.
