The West has been cautiously eyeing changes to the Chinese military leadership cadre in what has been described in the press as a ‘purge’.
The concern being raised is that the changes Xi has been instituting in the military have been decidedly hawkish in nature.
Generals disinclined — or ill-suited — to lead the military into war are being replaced with others more enthusiastic about the prospect of a major conflict.
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“There is a sense that many of China’s general officers don’t want to fight,” according to [Gordon] Chang [of the Gatestone Institute]. “And so we really have a force led by an officer corps that is ambivalent about going to war.”
Since taking power in 2012, Xi has overhauled China’s military by cutting deep into its personnel, seeking to improve military-civilian cooperation, and reshaping its structure, among other reforms.
His efforts reached a crescendo on December 29, 2023, when Xi dismissed nine senior officers in one stroke. — Business Insider
Chang believes the official ‘corruption’ explanation for the purge is implausible.
“Because if that were the case, all of them would be sacked,” he said.
For him, Xi is likely purging officers who are reluctant to go to war.
He cited Chinese Air Force General Liu Yazhou, who cautioned against an invasion of Taiwan and received a suspended death sentence in February 2022, per the AsiaNews agency.
BI also spoke to Joel Wuthnow, a senior research fellow in the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs at the National Defense University in Washington, DC. — Business Insider
