Xi Promotes 2 Generals After Purge Thins Military Leadership
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Zhang Shuguang and air force commander Wang Gang were promoted to general rank by Xi Jinping at a Friday ceremony, with Zhang additionally named head of the corruption-investigation division at the Central Military Commission.
- The shake-up is described as partly an effort to ensure the military's loyalty to the Communist Party and Xi Jinping, who also chairs the Central Military Commission.
- The seven-member Central Military Commission has been effectively reduced to two active members — Xi and Vice Chair Zhang Shengmin — after two former vice chairs, including the military's top general, were removed or effectively removed.
- The promotions may serve as a precursor to a top-level reorganization driven by the long-running anti-corruption drive that has thinned the senior ranks.
- A new commission is expected to be announced in the fall of next year, at the end of the current body's five-year term.
Why it matters: The Central Military Commission's seven seats have been functionally cut to two active members, including the military's former top general removed in the anti-corruption drive. By promoting a new general to simultaneously lead the corruption-investigation unit, Xi is placing trusted figures into a near-empty power structure months before the commission's five-year term expires.
