Record number of purges as Xi emphasises 'party discipline' at China political gathering — SkimNews
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- Xi Jinping emphasized 'party discipline' at the fifth plenum, overseeing a record 33 expulsions, including high-ranking military and political figures, as part of an ongoing anti-corruption and loyalty enforcement campaign.
- Central Committee attendance dropped to 279 members, the lowest since 2022, with the plenum marking the first time under Xi’s leadership that participation fell below 300, reflecting significant attrition from purges and vacancies.
- 16 military officials were among those expelled, including former top generals Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, reducing the Central Military Commission to just two members—Xi and Zhang Shengmin—amid concerns over leadership stability and readiness.
- Zhang Fuhai stated over two million individuals have been disciplined since 2012 for 'pointless formalities, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance', and the party will intensify efforts to ensure officials 'dare not, cannot, and do not want to be corrupt'.
- Ma Xingrui, former Xinjiang party chief and Politburo member, was purged alongside other high-profile figures, signaling that even close allies of Xi are vulnerable if deemed ideologically impure or disloyal.
- 680,000 party members were disciplined nationwide in the first nine months of the year, according to China's top anti-corruption watchdog, underscoring the scale of internal rectification beyond the Central Committee.
Why it matters: The unprecedented purge of 33 Central Committee members—16 from the military—directly weakens institutional leadership while strengthening Xi’s personal control, altering succession dynamics ahead of the 2027 Party Congress and increasing systemic risk through centralized power dependence.
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