Xi Continues Military Purge As China Acquires F35 Parts

Conflict Tracker

Asia-Pacific China’s extraordinary military purge deepened again this week, with General Zhang Youxia and General Liu Zhenli formally expelled from the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army. Zhang was one of China’s most powerful military figures, serving as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission and previously regarded as a close military ally of Xi Jinping. Liu headed the PLA’s Joint Staff Department. Beijing has accused both men of serious disciplinary violations, corruption, forming political cliques and disloyalty. Their cases have now been transferred to military prosecutors.

The expulsions formalise a remarkable collapse at the top of the PLA. Zhang and Liu had already been removed from the state Central Military Commission in August, leaving Xi as one of only two active members of what had previously been a seven-member body. Reuters reports that analysts believe the continuing removals could temporarily disrupt command effectiveness and military readiness, even as they further consolidate Xi’s political control over the armed forces.

Historically, large-scale military purges can create serious disruption, at least in the short term. One of the most extreme examples was Stalin’s purge of the Soviet officer corps before the Second World War, which severely disrupted parts of the Red Army’s command structure. China today is obviously a very different case, but the broader lesson remains relevant: removing experienced senior officers can carry consequences for military cohesion, institutional knowledge and decision-making. There are several layers to Xi’s purge. One possibility is that he is attempting to further consolidate political control over the military. A more centralised command structure, dominated by officers personally loyal to Xi, could make it easier to implement his foreign and defence policy without significant internal resistance.

The trade-off is the quality of the people replacing those who have been removed. Who replaces the purged commanders? Are they selected primarily for competence, or for political loyalty? If Xi believes his hold on power is under threat, loyalty may become the overriding consideration, even if that comes at the expense of experience or institutional independence. That distinction matters enormously for the PLA. Political consolidation may strengthen Xi’s authority over the armed forces while simultaneously weakening aspects of military organisation, initiative and cohesion. This becomes particularly important as China continues to increase military pressure around Taiwan, where any major operation would require an exceptionally complex level of coordination across the PLA’s air, naval, missile and ground forces.

Meanwhile we’re seeing one the most surreal intelligence leaks in recent history, as a potentially serious F-35 security breach involving Australia and China has emerged. Components from an Australian F-35A were being shipped to the United States for inspection, repair or disposal in late May when the shipment was unexpectedly diverted through South Korea to Hong Kong. Bloomberg reported this week that the Chinese government subsequently took possession of the parts and has not returned them. Again, it seems history repeats itself as Australia had a lacklustre reputation among its U.S. and U.K. intelligence allies during the Cold War for a number of leaks. I won’t jump the gun too soon and blame Australian officials, but serious questions need to be answered soon.

The shipment reportedly included an F-35 cockpit canopy and weapons-bay door, both coated with radar-absorbing material designed to reduce the aircraft’s radar signature. This has raised concerns that China could examine the components for information about the F-35’s stealth characteristics or potentially identify vulnerabilities in the aircraft’s design.

However, Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles has played down the severity of the incident, saying Canberra does not believe technologically sensitive components were compromised. Lockheed Martin has similarly described the missing equipment as unserviceable and presenting a low exploitation risk. The United States, Australia and Lockheed Martin are now investigating how equipment belonging to one of the world’s most sensitive combat-aircraft programs was diverted into Chinese-controlled territory in the first place.