BEIJING — A sweeping anti-corruption campaign initiated in 2023 has resulted in the near-total overhaul of China’s military command structure, marking one of the most significant personnel shifts in the history of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The investigations, which have intensified over the past year, have led to the removal and investigation of high-ranking officials across the Central Military Commission (CMC), various service branches, and strategic theater commands.
According to recent reports and official announcements, the purge has targeted the uppermost tiers of the defense establishment, dismantling networks of alleged graft that extended deep into the country’s military-industrial complex. The scope of the crackdown has been particularly severe within the specialized forces and the logistics departments responsible for equipment procurement.
The current wave of investigations, which began gaining momentum in mid-2023, has focused heavily on the PLA Rocket Force, the elite branch responsible for China’s expanding nuclear and conventional missile arsenal. This strategic unit has seen a complete reshuffling of its leadership, with its former commander and political commissar removed from their posts amid allegations of serious violations of discipline and law. The dismantling of the Rocket Force’s previous leadership team signals a deep-seated concern regarding the integrity of the force entrusted with the nation’s most sensitive weaponry.
However, the purge extends well beyond a single branch. The investigations have permeated the Equipment Development Department, the body tasked with overseeing military acquisitions and modernizing the PLA’s hardware. High-profile figures, including former Defense Ministers, have been implicated, stripped of their titles, and expelled from the Communist Party. These developments highlight the systemic nature of the alleged corruption, which reportedly involves inflated procurement contracts and quality control failures that could compromise the operational readiness of the armed forces.
The Central Military Commission, the supreme national defense organization chaired by President Xi Jinping, has been at the epicenter of this restructuring. The removal of sitting members of the CMC underscores the administration’s “zero tolerance” approach to corruption, regardless of rank or political stature. The campaign aligns with the broader national strategy to forge a “world-class military” by 2049, a goal that leadership believes is unattainable without eradicating the graft that siphons off resources and undermines chain-of-command discipline.
Observers note that the investigations have also impacted “front commands”—known in military terminology as Theater Commands—which are responsible for combat operations in specific geographical areas. The removal of commanders at this level suggests that the scrutiny is not limited to administrative or procurement roles but includes operational leadership essential for potential conflicts. The cleanup of the officer corps is widely interpreted as a move to ensure absolute political loyalty to the party leadership while simultaneously attempting to fix deep-rooted inefficiencies in military spending.
As the probes continue, the turnover rate within the PLA’s upper echelons remains historically high. The void left by these dismissals is being filled by a new generation of officers, vetted strictly for their adherence to party discipline. While the Chinese government maintains that these actions are necessary to purify the ranks and improve combat capabilities, the scale of the dismissals indicates that the investigation into the structural integrity of the military’s command network is far from concluded.
