Arresting General Zhang Youxia is the best preparation for war

You need to remove cancer cells before the big fight

The news of Zhang’s arrest last week sent shockwaves across the China-watching community worldwide.

All sorts of zoo animals, masqueraded as “news reporters” or “China experts”, have crawled out from under the rocks to air their “commentaries” and “analysis”.

The circus includes Wall Street Journal, the disinformation agency owned by the hideous Murdoch clan, exiled remnants of Fa Lun Gong cult, professional China-haters bankrolled by US congress (the “anti-China propaganda fund”), as well as “expert analysts” of the Heritage Foundation and Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

The rumour mills have gone into overdrive.

There are numerous sensational “reports” ranging from General Zhang passing nuclear secrets to the CIA, Beijing facing lock-down, troops on the streets, gunshots heard, to military blitz attack to rescue Zhang in a coup attempt.

A few DPP-sponsored propaganda outlets in Taiwan and Fa Lun Gong cult followers on X, went bat-shit crazy with made-up stories and behind-the-scenes action plots as if they were live witnesses - political porn and mental masturbation at its ugliest.

The vivid imagination would secure them a writing job for the Netflix Fargo show, which is entirely “based on true events”, as those liars advertise for their own stories.

Of course, you need an audience with a single digit IQ to push such “news”, which seems in abundant supply in Taiwan and the west.

The exercise of collective lunacy is a sight to behold.

After 30 years of false reporting and laughable “China collapse” forecast, you would have thought nobody with a brain cell is buying this bullshit.

But since institutionalized stupidity and dishonesty is a feature of the western media landscape (of which “democratic” Taiwan is a proud member), imbecilic rumours are eagerly consumed and believed by a dumbed-down public with the attention and intelligence of a koi fish, which unfortunately is a prerequisite for high-function “democracy”.

In this context, some less gullible and more thoughtful readers have reached out and asked for comments on what happened.

My first advice is for folks to cool their jets and avoid reaching conclusions before more trustworthy information is available.

In the attention-deficit prone western media world today, too many suffer from a syndrome of “ready, fire, and aim”.

Everyone is in a rush to get the first idea that comes to his head out for public consumption or social media clicks.

The wise ones wait till the brain processes the data and exercises reason.

Now that we have the benefit of looking at the event in the rear-view mirror (to a degree), it is worthwhile to analyze the situation as the arrest is indeed a major transformative event for the PLA and China.

Only, it is not what the western media teed it up to be. In fact, quite the opposite.

When it comes to China, if you reach the opposite conclusion from the “mainstream western media”, you are far more likely to be right than wrong as a rule of thumb.

Right off the bat, I want to make clear that I don’t have any inside information. I am only using available public announcements from credible sources to analyze what happened and what the implications are.

I also have no official standing and no skin in the game. I am sharing only common-sense reasoning.

With that out of the way, I’d like to lay out my views starting from who General Zhang is, why he was arrested, how it affects China’s military readiness, what message President Xi is sending, and what are the long term implications for the military and for the country.

Who is General Zhang Youxia?

Two generals – Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhengli – were removed on January 19^th. Both were members of the Central Military Commission (CMC) – the highest military decision-making body headed by President Xi himself.

Zhang was the First Deputy Chairman of CMC, making him the highest ranked uniform officer in China.

Three other members of the CMC were put under investigation last year, including former Defense Minister Li Shangfu.

By now, 5 of the 7-member CMC, whose term started in 2022, have been removed.

All five generals are accused of corruption and violation of political disciplines. Zhang and Liu are also guilty of “disrespecting and trampling on the command authority of the CMC chairman”, according to PLA Daily, the official paper for the military.

No further details of their cases have been disclosed at this point.

The removal of General Zhang is of particular significance.

Zhang is 75 years old and a childhood friend of President Xi. Their fathers were both founding revolutionaries of the PLA and the republic.

The senior Xi and Zhang served in the same Red Army group in northwestern China in the 1940s as Political Commissar and Commanding Officer respectively.

Both were among the most senior military leaders at the founding of the PRC. The two families remained close ever since.

Zhang has been President Xi’s closest ally in the military from the beginning. He was appointed Deputy Chairman of CMC in 2017.

You can read about the friendship of Xi and Zhang in Alfred L. Chan’s massive book Xi Jinping: Political Career, Governance, and Leadership 1953 – 2018.

Zhang joined the Army at age 18, a professional soldier all his life and a combat veteran from the 1979 war with Vietnam.

In the border war, he commanded an infantry battalion that achieved a string of battlefield victories. Zhang was awarded the highest medal of valour.

He rose through the ranks to become a major general in 1997, lieutenant general in 2007, and was promoted to full general in 2011.

As a senior officer, Zhang has also led the military modernization program, responsible for both procurement and personnel before his promotion to CMC.

Procurement and personnel are two of the most critical functions within the military and a hotbed for corruption.

Zhang was also a strong advocate of the highly successful “military-civilian fusion” initiative, heading China’s space program.

By all accounts, Zhang is a highly respected solider until the disgraceful fall a couple of weeks ago.

Why was Zhang arrested?

The clearest account of official accusations is from the PLA Daily.

Zhang and Liu, who is a protégé of Zhang, were accused of corruption and failure to follow the command authority of the CMC chairman.

The PLA Daily used the term “Giant Rats” to describe the corruption, a reference to classic Chinese fable of the pest eating away granary and causing famine.

The refence to “trampling on the command authority of the CMC chairman” is a direct indication of disobedience and subversion of the command structure, headed by President Xi.

There are other rumors as well. WSJ reported Zhang passed nuclear secrets to the US and promoted the disgraced former Defense Minister Li Shangfu after receiving a large bribe.

While the latter is quite possible, even likely, the accusation of nuclear leaks should be dismissed as a psyops, planted by US intelligence.

Common sense tells you that this is a blatant lie – what motivation could General Zhang possibly have to commit high treason?

Such an act carries an automatic death sentence and would ensure his family, including his grandchildren, will be pariah and outcast in China for generations to come, let alone dishonoring his own father.

For a lifelong soldier and a “red princeling”, it is utterly inconceivable for Zhang to carry out high treason.

Was he so brainwashed about western “democracy” that he would betray his own country and put every Chinese life at stake by passing nuclear secrets to the Americans?

Was he bribed or blackmailed? If so, how was the subversion pulled off?

Lastly, where did WSJ get this bombshell of a secret? Some “well-placed” “anonymous source” was quoted – the habitual claim by “distinguished” western media outfits for alleges they cannot back up. The same outfits who gave the world Sadam’s WMD and Gaddafi’s soldiers pumped with Viagra.

But if you think about it rationally, would the US intelligence disclose they stole Chinese nuclear secrets?

Would the CIA burn every future potential defector by going public on a high-value spy whom they are supposed to protect?

The Wall Street Journal doesn’t even have any reporters stationed in mainland China since it has been banned as an enemy propaganda machine, like RT in Europe and the US, and for being part of the western“lying media” – something Beijing and Trump see eye-to-eye.

Many WSJ “China” reporters don’t even speak Mandarin, despite their Chinese-sounding by-lines.

As for the CIA, the agency openly admitted its human spy network in China was annihilated in the early 2010s with nearly all its members either executed or disappeared by Chinese State Security.

Its human intelligence program in China is in such shambles that the CIA was forced to resort to public recruitment ads to entice Chinese nationals to spy for it on YouTube and other social media platforms with AI-generated Chinese voice-overs in 2024.

The ads were universally ridiculed for its clumsiness and patent lack of persuasiveness. A few late-night comedy shows even featured the ads for laughs.

If the CIA is this desperate, what are the odds that it has the capability to carry out a crown-jewel subversion at the highest level of Chinese military?

If it is so capable, I guess the Pentagon needn’t worry about Chinese hypersonic anti-carrier missiles or its 6^th fighter jets. Those are small potato intel compared with the top-secret nuclear program.

Maybe they can even attempt a Maduro-style stunt in Beijing, with some Navy Seals harbouring death wishes.

Other western media, including Taiwan DPP mouthpieces and Fa Lun Gong cult followers on X, went bananas with wild reports such as Zhang launched a coup d’etat against President Xi and some military units storming the prison to jail-break Zhang.

Such stories cannot even pass the most basic smell test. Coup for what? Did Zhang have ambitions to ascend to the top of the party state at age 75 and with literally zero political support?

Was he planning a Washington-style “democracy” for Beijing? Did he aspire to join the ranks of “democratic leaders” emerging from the “Arab Spring” or the various color revolutions after witnessing what happened next?

Some more “serious” western reports speculate this is another wave of “purges” President Xi is launching as part of some undefined factional infighting.

The Economist, NYT, and the Guardian all raised such speculations.

While not as off-hinge as the sensationalist trash reporting, they are also wildly off mark and show how little the West knows about Chinese politics.

President Xi has been the top leader for nearly a decade and a half. His authority over the Party and the Military is absolute.

Every general removed from the CMC has been promoted into the role by himself, including Zhang. They all owed their career to President Xi.

Beyond CMC, every member of the Politburo Standing Committee, the highest political decision-making body in the country, was appointed by President Xi.

Same goes for the other minister-level and above senior officials taken down for corruption (known as “tigers” in Chinese anti-corruption lexicon) in the past decade.

President Xi doesn’t need “purges” to remove his political opponents, since there are no such opponents.

He is secure in his role and has the support of the body politic and the population, for whom the No. 1 domestic concern is anti-corruption.

Whether you like the Chinese system or not, accusing its top leadership of divided loyalty is wishful thinking, completely divorced from reality.

Discard such nonsensical “reports”. If you put Zhang’s case in the context of the ongoing anti-corruption campaign within the military, a clear picture emerges.

At the beginning of his first term as the Party Secretary General, President Xi put two former CMC Deputy Chairmen, Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, under investigation. One died in prison and one given a life sentence.

Last year alone, 2 Defense Ministers (the incumbent and his immediate predecessor), 3 members of CMC, and 9 generals from the Rocket Force were arrested for corruption.

The anti-corruption campaign goes beyond uniformed military. Several senior executives of major state-owned arms contractors were similarly charged and dismissed.

These investigations inevitably lead to confessions and more rotten apples exposed. When you pull the string of the corruption chain hard enough, you take out the root – which has led to the most senior uniformed officers. Zhang oversaw PLA procurement for years.

Beyond corruption, cliques and cronyism often find a hotbed in the insulated military.

Nepotism and back-room dealings are prevalent within such an environment, especially in peacetime when personal loyalty trumps battlefield performance in personnel management and promotions.

As the most senior general, Zhang was also responsible for personnel issues, having promoted several senior officers who have been implicated in corruption cases.

When one stops viewing the fall of Zhang as a stand-alone event, but in the context of the ongoing anti-corruption campaigns, one starts to understand the true nature of his crimes.

One of the most famous stories from the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history (220 to 280 AD) was the one about “Zhuge Liang executing Ma Shu with tears”, a story known to every school child.

Zhuge Liang was the marshal commander-in-chief of the Shu Kingdom, one of the wisest and most beloved right hand of the king in Chinese history.

Ma Shu was his protégé and a highly skilled general. Zhuge loved Ma like his own son and groomed Ma as his successor.

In a critical battle against the Wei Kingdom at Jie Ting in 228 AD, Ma disobeyed Zhuge’s orders and suffered a devastating loss.

Zhuge had Ma Shu executed with tears rolling down his cheek – whatever his personal feelings for Ma, the military law and accountability system demanded such a harsh penalty.

When faced with a choice between command authority and friendship, true leaders are not swayed by emtions. Command authority must be upheld at any cost.

General Zhang is President Xi’s Ma Shu. However hard a decision, he has to prioritize the discipline of the military over personal feelings.

Since President Xi started his reign in 2012, he launched the biggest anti-corruption campaign in human history.

Six and a millions officials, from village chiefs to member of the Politburo, were investigated and prosecuted, a full 7% of all CPC membership.

Since 2014, 1 Politburo Standing Committee member, 3 CMC Deputy Chairmen, 20 minister-level central government officials including former Foreign Minister, 15 Provincial Secretary Generals (the top official of the province), and numerous PLA generals in every branch of the service were removed.

President Xi has taken a crowbar to the task, and he is not letting it off.

Will this affect China’s military readiness in a Taiwan contingency?

This is the most urgent question facing the public.

Many point out since General Zhang is both the highest ranked uniform officer and the one with the most combat experience, his removal compromises China’s military readiness in an emergency.

This is both true and false. On one hand, Zhang is indeed the most experienced general in PLA. He is certainly instrumental in the modernization of the PLA and knows the system the best.

On the other hand, his combat experience is almost 5 decades old when the PLA fought border skirmishes with legacy weapons from WW2.

Military doctrines and technology have gone through multi-generational iterations since his time on the battlefield.

Another factor – Zhang has been in his position as the most senior officer for over a decade and long past the age of retirement at 75.

As an aging incumbent, he has lost his drive. The charges against him are clear indication things need shaking up.

It is time for younger, better educated, and hungrier officers to take over who value status quo less and are eager for battlefield glories.

Some observers express concern that there will be no one who can say no to President Xi after Zhang’s removal. In fact, the bigger concern should be there is no one in the military who can say no to General Zhang as a separate entrenched power base.

History teaches us not to place too much importance to individual players, however brilliant they are.

General Lin Biao was one of the most decorated generals in the PLA and Chairman Mao’s chosen successor in the late 1960s.

When he failed in a coup attempt and died in a plane crash when fleeing to the USSR, people thought the sky would fall. In the end, nothing of consequence happened.

In early 2025, Trump carried out an unprecedented shake-up of top military leadership in the US, which included the firing of the nation’s top military officer – the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Brown Jr.

He also fired General Randy George as the Army Chief of Staff, Adm. Lisa Franchetti (Chief of Naval Operations), Adm. Linda Fagan (Commandant of the Coast Guard), General Jim Slife (Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force), and all the Judge Advocates General for the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Trump even fired retired General Mark Milley (former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) from his civilian role on the National Infrastructure Advisory Council.

On top of that, Trump installed the wholly unqualified, sycophant, half-wit Fox host Pete Hegseth as his War Secretary.

For some strange reason, I haven’t seen concerns in western commentaries about the potential damaging impact on US military readiness.

I can only speculate these US generals are mere decorative wallpapers in the chain of command.

Coming back to General Zhang, the CMC is indeed the highest decision-making body of the PLA. However, actual warfighting is carried out at theatre-command level.

The Eastern Theatre Command is responsible for Taiwan. It will be supported by the Southern Theatre Command if the conflict expands to cover the whole of the first island chains.

Theatre commanders are directly in charge of executing the war plans, troop movement, and wartime mobilization.

War plans involving Taiwan and Western Pacific in general are long baked and well-rehearsed, mostly recently in December when the PLA Navy carried out a full-scale mock blockade around Taiwan.

The removal of Zhang and the other CMC members has no impact on operational planning and execution. If anything, the chain of command is shortened and decision making will be faster.

The high-tech weapon systems, the training and exercises, the command structure, and the kill chain are not degraded simply because a few corrupt and disloyal officers are prosecuted.

The removal of corrupt senior officers serves as an enormous morale boost to the rank-and-file soldiers who overwhelmingly favor a meritocratic system.

Former General Liu Yuan, the son of former President Liu Shaoqi, famously said in a 2018 PLA leadership session that “the only force that can defeat the PLA is corruption”.

Curbing corruption and ridding the PLA off nepotism will only strengthen the military in the long run.

What is the message of Zhang’s removal?

By taking down General Zhang, President Xi has drawn the line in the sand.

Anti-corruption and command authority are non-negotiable for a military in preparation for major wars. There will be zero tolerance of corrupt officials, however highly ranked they may be.

No cronyism and nepotism will be tolerated in the military. Promotion through bribery, kickbacks in procurement, and violation of the military chain of command will be prosecuted to the full.

No one has immunity in the system, including those closest to the Commander-In-Chief.

President Xi has described the anti-corruption campaign as “always on the road” and “doesn’t have a stop line”.

Consolidation of command authority is also indicative of war preparation. By getting rid of the weak links, the PLA has improved its readiness.

Is it good or bad for the military and for the country?

From the start of his rule, President Xi made it clear anti-corruption is his No. 1 priority.

It is even more important than economic growth or competition with the US.

In President Xi’s own words, corruption is the most critical issue directly affecting the survival of the party and the state as it is about public support of communist rule.

In my own 2024 essay on President Xi’s 10 achievements, I listed his anti-corruption drive as his No. 1 success.

President Xi has made it clear that no one is above the law and there is zero tolerance in this matter.

This aligns with his clear Chinese Classic Legalist resolve when you read his writings on governance (multiple volumes have been published, including in English).

As greed is part of human nature, corruption and rent-seeking for power will be with us as long as we remain human.

There are two choices to deal with official corruption and misuse of power – 1) enforce the law and crack down to deter and punish; 2) legalize high corruption as an implicit part of the social contract between the ruler and the ruled.

The “leading democracy of the world” has chosen the second path by legalizing and institutionalizing “pay to play” politics, especially in the military –

- Unlimited campaign contribution (Citizen United case)

- Special interest lobbying

- Pork barrel legislation

- Cost-plus pricing and no-bids contracts in military procurement

- Revolving doors between the Pentagon and the military industrial complex and between the Capitol Hill and the K Street

- Allowing the Pentagon to never pass a single legally mandated audit

As a result, government officials can be openly corrupt and completely immune. Nancy Pelosi, the former House Speaker, literally has a ETF fund tracking her insider-trading portfolio (known as the Pelosi Trade).

She shamelessly wears such “endorsement” as a badge of honour when she would be wearing prison garbs, if in China. Maybe this explains her hatred of the CPC.

On the other side, President Xi has chosen the harder path to be on the march against corruption for as long as it takes.

When Domino falls like General Zhang’s arrest, no one can predict all the effects. However, every ordinary Chinese is rooting for the drive to rid the country and the military of cancerous corruption.

We will certainly see more investigations and arrests. God willing, we will see the offenders prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law of the land.

There must be fear to deter greed.

Whatever its shortcomings, the Chinese system is dealing with corruption and abuse of power, and President Xi just made it clear no one is above the Party and the State.