'Purge' at top of China's military: US monitors 'with interest' resounding fall of Xi's most powerful generals
General Zhang Youxia, in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China, on April 22, 2024. PHOTO: WANG Zhao / AFP / Profimedia
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that the United States is watching “with interest” the reorganization of China's military hierarchy after the noisy dismissal of the country's most powerful general, writes AFP.
“I think this is part of a trend we've seen in recent years, which is the purging of the military leadership. They spend a lot of money on their military, and it's obvious that some of these people are stealing that money, and they're trying to fix that,” said the head of US diplomacy when asked about this during a US congressional hearing focused on US policy towards Venezuela.
“So this is an internal issue with their system. Obviously, they're not sharing that information with us or talking about it in detail, but it's certainly something we're watching with interest,” Rubio added.
On Saturday, Beijing announced the opening of an investigation into General Zhang Youxia, one of the top officials of its military supreme command, for “serious violations of discipline,” a commonly used euphemism for corruption.
Another general, Liu Zhenli, also a member of the Central Military Commission (CMC), was also removed.
Since assuming leadership of the Communist Party in 2012, President Xi Jinping has been waging a vigorous campaign against corruption, both in the civilian and military spheres, notes the French news agency.
