Blog

Reported Arrests of China’s Top Military Brass Indicate Political Crisis, Experts Say

from the Epoch Times

In what has been described by one China expert as potentially among the “most dangerous developments in the world today,” Gen. He Weidong, the third-in-command of communist China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), and several other military leaders, have reportedly been arrested amid the Chinese regime’s ongoing military purge.

It’s unclear whether Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping or his political enemies were behind the alleged purge of the Fujian clique, one of two groups considered to be Xi’s allies. The possibility of the second scenario has raised some concerns that Xi may become more aggressive on the international front if he believes that he’s on the verge of losing power.

He, the second-ranked vice chairman of the CCP’s Central Military Commission (CMC) and a member of the Party’s Politburo, has not been seen in public since March 11, when he attended this year’s closing session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the Chinese regime’s rubber-stamp legislature and the highest state organ of power.

During the two weeks, He and the CMC’s first-ranked vice chairman, Zhang Youxia, were both absent from a seminar that marked the CCP’s enactment of the Anti-Secession Law 20 years ago. The law targets so-called Taiwan separatists. Neither were they seen by Xi’s side during his visit to China’s southwestern Yunnan Province. Their absences were considered unusual because such events had previously been attended by at least one of the two CMC vice chairmen.

Zhao Lanjian, a former investigative journalist in China who is now based in the United States, recently told The Epoch Times that at least three sources had confirmed to him that He had been detained on March 11.

According to Zhao Lanjian, who first reported He’s alleged arrest on social media platform X on March 13, the PLA general was taken away shortly after the NPC session and subsequently had a heart attack and was detained at the 301 Hospital, a top PLA hospital that treats the CCP’s high-level officials. The hospital is often mentioned in rumors concerning political assassinations within the Chinese regime.

Zhao Lanjian cited one of the sources, saying that the CMC is reviewing He’s speeches as CMC vice chairman, along with documents, photos, and videos involving him, to remove his influence.

The information was corroborated by Cai Shenkun, a China affairs commentator who previously broke the stories of the removals of former Defense Minister Li Shangfu and Adm. Miao Hua from their posts.

In a YouTube livestream on March 24, Cai said the PLA’s theater command leaders have been notified of He’s arrest.

More Rumored Arrests, Absence

Besides He, several other PLA commanders from the Fujian faction are also said to have been placed under investigation, according to Zhao Lanjian and Cai.

Zhao Lanjian said that He’s secretary has been investigated, possibly for leaking information. Zhao Lanjian also said those arrested include Zhao Keshi, former head of the PLA’s General Logistics Department, and several other military commanders from Fujian Province, where Xi spent 17 years before his rise to power.

On March 25, Cai said Lin Xiangyang, commander of the Eastern Theater Command, was arrested on March 24 for leaking a “so-called Taiwan Strait battle plan.” It’s unclear to whom the information was allegedly leaked.

Meanwhile, the absence of Defense Minister Dong Jun from a plenary meeting of the State Council earlier this month also raised some eyebrows.

So far, Beijing has not commented on the reported arrests or provided an explanation for Dong’s absence.

China’s foreign ministry didn’t respond to The Epoch Times’ inquiry about the individuals’ whereabouts by publication time.

‘Unprecedented’ Infighting

Since Xi assumed power in 2012, the CCP leader has launched a sweeping anti-corruption campaign. According to a recently unclassified document published by the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, nearly 5 million officials were investigated and found guilty by 2022.

However, the campaign “more deeply reflects a party-directed securitization, or a targeting of political indiscipline and ideological impurity, particularly at the highest levels of government, in an effort to preserve the CCP’s domestic control and legitimacy,” the report stated.

Xi’s policies, particularly his anti-corruption campaign and centralization of power, created enemies within the regime, such as Party elders, so-called CCP princelings, and some of the PLA’s top brass.

In the past two years, a number of senior CCP officials and PLA commanders have been dismissed or suspended following their unexplained disappearances.

Some analysts have said that Zhang, who’s from the Shaanxi gang, another faction that was considered to be Xi’s ally, may have been behind the more recent purges, which targeted the Fujian clique.

Political commentator and China expert Gordon Chang said the rumored arrests of He and Zhao Keshi “could be the most dangerous developments in the world today,” as the PLA “does not look either stable or loyal to China’s paramount leader,” no matter who was behind the purges or whether the rumors are true.

“The fact that they are circulating tells us that there are elements trying to destabilize the Chinese ruler,” Chang wrote in an articlepublished in The Hill on March 19.

“A Xi under siege could decide to lash out.”

In an interview with The Epoch Times, Zhao Lanjian said the latest development suggests that the CCP’s internal struggle has reached an “unprecedented” level.

Either Xi has “completely abandoned” his old subordinates or “anti-Xi forces within the military” are eliminating Xi’s people, he said.

Zhao Lanjian said the instability within the PLA means that it won’t be able to launch an invasion of Taiwan in the near future.

Shen Ming-Shih, research fellow at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research and director of the institute’s division of national security research, told The Epoch Times that Zhang’s power appears to be growing with the reported downfall of Xi’s followers and the presence of Zhang’s allies in key military positions.

Shen said that as Xi fends off those who want to oust him, the control of the military “has become crucial.”

Chi Yue-yi, a PLA expert at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he believes that Xi is still steadily maintaining his power.

While there may be “different voices” within the CCP and PLA cliques that oppose Xi, they don’t seem to be “enough to form an anti-Xi force,” he told The Epoch Times.Cai said on his YouTube livestream that if the Chinese leader’s position was under great threat, he could start a war in the Taiwan Strait to change the status quo.