China’s Fallen Generals Are Getting Unexpectedly Harsh Punishments

[u/Soggy_Association491]

https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/05/22/china-xi-jinping-purge-generals-punishment-death-sentence/

[u/Soggy_Association491]

Starer comment:

This is the first time senior officials, just one level below member of politburo is sentenced to suspended death sentences which life imprisonment with a permanent bar on parole and further commutation. While suspended death sentences are not unusual in major Chinese corruption cases, the permanent denial of parole and commutation is exceptionally severe and sets a new benchmark for punishment

Additionally Chinese state media also has shifted its language from describing offenses as corruption to portraying them as acts of political disloyalty against the Communist Party and implicitly against Xi himself.

Then there is the concern about the effectiveness of such a strong handed approach against combating corruption. If senior officials believe they face the maximum punishment regardless, they may have little incentive to limit their behavior.

However I would like to present another angle of this news. (I am bad at writing this kind of stuff so bare with me)

Historically the Central Military Commission consisted 7 members. Now there are only 2 remaining (including Xi) and the last member, Zhang Shengmin originated from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection which is a part of Xi faction. It can be surmised that Xi want to concentrate the control over the military to him by reducing the influence of senior generals.

Also when we examine the charges against Zhang Youxia or Wei Fenghe, most of them focus on "violations of discipline" or "undermined the CMC system". Their language in the PLA context imply that they are guilty of seeking to establish some level of independence for the PLA and push back the influence of the non-military member of the CMC over military strategy and decision-making.

This pattern feels eerily similar to Nacht der langen Messer or Night of long knives in 1934 where Hitler purged a long list of unfavorable elements in order to consolidate his authority and prepare to the rearmament of Germany. Then in 1938, he ousted senior generals like Ludwig Beck, Werner von Fritsch, Werner von Blomberg who disagreed with him on foreign policy (aka the war).

Do you think history will repeat itself now that Xi has total control including the ability to tell the PRC to invade Taiwan even if the generals said no?

[u/BendicantMias → u/Soggy_Association491]

Making Nazi comparisons of everything is tiresome tbh. It's far too much of a go-to in the west due to its Nazi obsession, unlike the rest of the world. There is more to history, including that of authoritarianism and especially in a completely foreign culture, than just 'Hitler did this, if you squint a little'.

As for preparing for an invasion, why? China could simply blockade Taiwan indefinitely. It's not Ukraine or Iran - it's actually an island. Why do it the hard way? If the US tries to intervene, which is looking increasingly unlikely, it'd be fighting in the most favorable battlespace China could ask for - right in China's backyard, against the PRC Navy (already larger, albeit shorter ranged but who cares when the battle is close to China), Air Force, Rocket Force, Drones and even parts of its army air force. They've also already fortified that area with AA/AD weapon systems all over the place. China is already the world's largest shipbuilder, and drone producer. The US is neither, and far from home. It would be a disaster. So why should they invade?

It is already the policy of the PRC to retake Taiwan, that didn't start with Xi. They largely left it alone for generations as they focused on their own internal development, but the recent uptick in interest to taking it is likely a reaction to the US than cos Xi especially needs to do it politically. Reaction to what from the US? This - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_chain_strategy

For both the U.S. and the PRC, the island chain strategy emphasizes the geographical and strategic importance of Taiwan.

Lastly, what does China spend on its military? Its defense spending amounts to 1.7% of its GDP. That's HALF the US figure, and even less than Europe spends. That hardly looks like a massive defense buildup. They could double that and still be only on par with the US, and still under NATO's new defense spending target. They could quadruple that and still only be matching that of Russia, never mind Israel and especially not Ukraine's ridiculous spending (only possible due to massive quantities of foreign money).

So this hardly looks like the prelude to an invasion of Taiwan. More likely they see Taiwan as a foregone conclusion and are only waiting for the best time to deal with it i.e. with minimal foreign intervention. They'd prefer that Taiwan gets disheartened enough by American reticence to help it that it decides to compromise and come to negotiations. And that will wait until the next US president, as right now Taiwan is, like everyone else, hoping Trump will burn himself and his movement out, resulting in a complete volte face in the US govt. after he's gone. China would like to know how much of Trumps' foreign policy will quietly persist after Trump. Then they can decide whether force is needed or simple pressure on Taiwan will do