OPINION — Last week’s Fourth Plenum of the Chinese Communist Party witnessed a purge of China’s senior military leaders, culminating in over two years of the removal of senior military officials once loyal to President Xi Jinping.
The last two defense ministers – Wei Feng he and Li Shangfu – were removed in October 2023 and June 2024. And now, He Wei Dong, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) was expelled from the Party and Military for “serious violations of Party discipline.” Admiral Miao Hua, Director of the CMC’s Political Work Department (responsible for the political/ideological work in the military) was removed from the CMC in June 2025 and later officially expelled.
The list goes on and on: Lin Xiangyang, Former Commander of the Eastern Theatre Command; Wang Houbin, Former Commander of the PLA Rocket Force; Wang Chunning, Former Commander of the People’s Armed Police. These are just three of eight or nine senior military officers purged in October 2025.
Purges of senior officials are not new to China. On July 1, 1989, Zhao Ziyang was removed as the Party’s General Secretary -- and Vice Chairman of the CMC -- for supporting the students during the June 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, and on July 1, 1987, Hu Yaobang was removed as the Party’s General Secretary for supporting the students who were demanding more democracy. Deng Xiaoping accused Mr. Hu, a former protégé of his, of “bourgeoise liberalization.”
And in 1971, Lin Biao, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and his wife, Ye Qun, planned the assassination of Chairman Mao Zedong, to replace Mao as the supreme leader. The plot was discovered and Lin Biao died in an airplane crash as he was fleeing for his life.
Many of the recently purged generals, including He Weidong and Admiral Miao Hua, worked in the 31st Group Army stationed in Fujian Province during the 1970s and 80s. This region is the front line for any potential military operation against Taiwan. In fact, He Weidong later served as commander of the Eastern Theatre Command from 2019 to 2022, the unit responsible for operations concerning Taiwan.
General He was a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo and Vice Chairman of the CMC, the third highest-ranking military official in China. His professional prominence was also due to his association with Xi Jinping, but in October 2025, General He and eight others senior military officers were expelled from the Communist Party and the military. They in fact were referred for criminal prosecution on charges of corruption and “serious violations of discipline and law.”
General He and the other purged generals all had connections to Fujian and the former Eastern Theatre Command commander Lin Xiangyang and Navy Admiral Miao Hua. It would be fair to assume that these senior military officers disagreed with some of Mr. Xi’s policies toward Taiwan.
The Cipher Brief brings expert-level context to national and global security stories. It’s never been more important to understand what’s happening in the world. Upgrade your access to exclusive content by becoming a subscriber.
Given the importance of Taiwan for Mr. Xi and the Communist Party, a disagreement with seniors in the military over Taiwan could develop into an issue that affects the inner workings of the Party. Mr. Xi has consistently refused to renounce the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control and continues to conduct military exercises near Taiwan. Mr. Xi maintains, however, that “peaceful reunification” is preferable but reserves the option of using force, particularly in response to “external forces” or “separatist activities” in Taiwan.
Hopefully, Mr. Xi will pursue a policy of peaceful reunification with Taiwan and immediately halt military exercises and related activities to intimidate Taiwan.
This column by Cipher Brief Expert Ambassador Joseph DeTrani was first published in The Washington Times
Read more expert-driven national security insights, perspective and analysis in The Cipher Brief because National Security is Everyone’s Business.
