China‘s highest-ranking general has been accused of leaking nuclear data to the US amid President Xi Jinping‘s sweeping anti-corruption military purge.
General Zhang Youxia was considered Xi’s most-trusted confidant before the Central Military Commission (CMC) launched an investigation into him on Saturday.
The military legislative body only vaguely described Zhang’s dismissal – citing violations of discipline and state law – but insiders pulled back the curtains on the severity of his alleged betrayals.
Sources told The Wall Street Journal that the 75-year-old CMC vice chairman allegedly handed over essential information on China’s nuclear weapons to the US.
Those who spoke with the WSJ said they gathered this information at a private briefing about the investigation on Saturday.
Aside from allegedly having loose lips with the country’s nuclear secrets, he has also been accused of trying to undermine the Communist Party’s unity through ‘political cliques’ and of abusing his authority.
Zhang has also allegedly accepted bribes for official acts, including the promotion of former Defense Minister Li Shangfu – who was removed from his position in 2023 for corruption and purged from the party the following year.
Much of the bombshell evidence gathered against Zhang was said to have come from Gu Jun, who formerly managed the China National Nuclear Corp, the WSJ reported.
General Zhang Youxia, the vice chairman of the CMC, is allegedly being investigated for leaking nuclear information to the US
President Xi Jinping has purged more than 200,000 officials since he came into power in 2012
This state-owned corporation oversees the nation’s civil and military nuclear programs.
Gu is also being looked into for party discipline and state law violations.
At the closed-door Saturday meeting, authorities allegedly revealed that the investigation into Gu has linked Zhang to a nuclear data breach.
But the details of said infringement were not revealed, the sources told the WSJ.
The outlet could not reach Zhang or Gu for comment, but a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said that leadership has ‘a full-coverage, zero-tolerance approach to combating corruption.’
Zhang was the operational leader of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the military wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the unified armed forces of the nation.
He is a childhood friend of President Xi and had survived several rounds of removals that began when Xi came to power in 2012.
More than 200,000 officials have been booted since then.
Zhang is a member of the ruling Politburo and is one of the few Chinese military commanders with combat experience – having fought in the 1979 Vietnam War.
The decision to remove Zhang has fueled fresh uncertainty over China’s invasion of Taiwan amid doubts that Xi could pull off the contingency with ‘no senior leaders in charge.’
Zhang served in the Vietnam War and is a childhood friend of President Xi
Defense Minister Li Shangfu was removed from his position in 2023 after he was investigated for corruption
The general was considered central to modernization efforts in the Chinese armed forces given his role as vice chairman of the CMC.
‘This move is unprecedented in the history of the Chinese military and represents the total annihilation of the high command,’ Christopher Johnson, head of political-risk consulting firm China Strategies Group, told the WSJ.
People told the outlet that a task force has been created look into Zhang’s time as commander of the Shenyang Military Region from 2007 to 2012.
Authorities have also allegedly started taking the cellphones and devices from people who climbed military ranks under Zhang and another general and chief of the Joint Staff Department, Liu Zhenli.
China also announced on Saturday that Liu is being investigated.
The Communist Party expelled the other vice chair of the commission, He Weidong, last October and replaced him with commission member Zhang Shengmin.
The party expelled two former defense ministers over corruption charges in 2024.
The CMC has now been reduced to its smallest size in history, at just two members – including President Xi and Zhang Shengmin, the military’s anti-corruption watchdog who was promoted to CMC vice-chair in October.
