China Expels Top Generals on Disloyalty Charges in Xi's Military Purge

In the long arc of concentrated power, China has once again moved to tighten the circle of loyalty around its paramount leader, expelling two senior military commanders on charges of disloyalty and corruption. Xi Jinping's systematic reshaping of the People's Liberation Army continues a pattern familiar to students of authoritarian consolidation — where institutional independence is treated not as a feature of governance but as a threat to it. The removals, announced in September 2026, deepen questions about what kind of military China is building: one capable of candid counsel, or one optimiz