China purges 19 lawmakers, including nine senior military officers, on eve of major political gathering

China’s top legislative body has removed 19 senior officials — nine of them from the military — from its roster of national lawmakers, just days before the country’s annual “Two Sessions” political meetings open in Beijing.
The National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee announced the expulsions on Friday without giving reasons, a standard practice in such cases. The move comes amid a sweeping anti-corruption campaign that has repeatedly targeted the upper ranks of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Among those removed are:
Li Qiaoming, commander of the PLA Ground Force
Shen Jinlong, former commander of the PLA Navy
Several other serving and retired military officers
Sun Shaochong, former Communist Party chief of Inner Mongolia
The purge follows the abrupt removal earlier this month of General Zhang Youxia — President Xi Jinping’s most senior military ally and a key architect of China’s modern armed forces — who was also stripped of his positions for “serious violations of discipline and law,” the party’s usual euphemism for corruption.
The latest dismissals are the most significant since an October 2025 crackdown that saw nine top generals ousted in a single sweep. Xi has described the fight against corruption as “grave and complex” and made it a signature policy since taking power in 2013 under his “tigers and flies” campaign, which targets both high-ranking “tigers” and lower-level “flies.”
Critics, however, argue the repeated purges in the military serve not only to root out graft but also to eliminate potential rivals and ensure absolute loyalty to Xi, who serves as chairman of the Central Military Commission.
The removals clear the decks ahead of the Two Sessions — the annual gatherings of the NPC and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference — which begin on 4 March and run until 11 March. Delegates will approve the government’s five-year plan and set key economic targets for 2026 at a time when China faces slowing growth, trade tensions with the United States, and pressure to modernise its military.
No official explanation has been offered for any of the expulsions, and state media have so far reported the news without comment.
The shake-up underscores the continued turbulence within China’s defence establishment even as Beijing projects an image of stability and strength on the global stage.