Xi’s PLA Purge Deepens as Top Generals Face Probe (Full Transcript)

[00:00:02] Speaker 1: A shocking development in Chinese leader Xi Jinping's purge of his generals. Zhang Youxia, the second-in-command of the Two Million Strong People's Liberation Army, or PLA, is now under formal investigation for alleged corruption, along with the head of the PLA's Joint Staff Department, Liu Zhenli. Both men were long-time lieutenants to Xi, but now a scathing state media editorial accuses them of undermining Xi's ultimate authority in the military, while a Wall Street Journal article says Zhang is suspected of leaking secrets on China's nuclear weapons program to the U.S., as the two men joined dozens of others on a list of disgraced senior officers, all removed by Xi since he took a precedent-breaking third term in late 2022. While this massive purge has led to speculations about Xi losing his grip on power, some analysts say this is more about Xi losing patience with his generals as he continues to try to bend the PLA to his will, demanding absolute loyalty and its ability to fight and win wars if ordered by him. Some think this news makes a Chinese attack on Taiwan in the near term less likely, given the presumed impact on the PLA's operations and morale, but others warn the prospect of a new generation of younger and more aggressive generals taking over the military leadership. But one message clearly reinforced from all of this is that in Xi's China, no one is indispensable.