Xi Jinping holds ultimate power in China and his latest move leaves him almost alone at the top of the world's biggest army.
His years-long anti-corruption drive has taken on new meaning, after he removed his long-term ally and army chief, Zhang Youxia, amid a probe into his conduct.
Experts say the move is significant and sends a clear message to those in China's leadership ranks — no one is safe.
Here is what we know about the case, what it says about Xi Jinping's control inside China and the country's military ambitions.
Who is Zhang Youxia?
Zhang Youxia was second-in-charge of the Central Military Commission (CMC), China's top military decision-making body for the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
President Xi is top of the CMC.
The 75-year-old general was widely considered by experts to be a close friend President Xi's.
He was initially expected to retire in 2022, but Mr Xi reinstated him for a third term on the CMC, underscoring their closeness.
He joined the army in 1968 and was one of the only senior officers with active combat experience.
Mr Zhang also sits on the Politburo, the Chinese Communist Party's top political decision-making body.
But on Saturday, China's defence ministry announced he was being investigated for alleged "serious violations of discipline and the law".
An accusation of wrongdoing in China is generally used as a euphemism for corruption.
The ministry also announced that another senior military official, General Liu Zhenli, was under investigation.
Mr Liu was chief-of-staff of the CMC's Joint Staff Department.
The loss of the two men has effectively shrunk the seven-person decision making body down to two, with Mr Xi at the top.
What is President Xi's corruption crackdown?
In a front-page editorial on Sunday, the People's Liberation Army Daily described the probe as a major achievement, adding that the two generals had "seriously undermined and violated" the Chairman Responsibility System.
Under the system, China's president is vested with the "supreme military decision-making".
It also serves as the "institutional arrangement for practising the party's absolute leadership over the army," according to China's government.
The PLA Daily article did not offer further details and did not provide any evidence of a power struggle.
While some analysts say it suggests disloyalty, others are sceptical he posed a threat to the president's power.
"For Xi to undertake such a dramatic move suggests two things: Xi has the full support of the Chinese Communist Party, and Xi is confident in his consolidation of power over the military," Mr Morris said.
The military was one of the main targets of a broad corruption crackdown ordered by Mr Xi after he came to power in 2012.
In 2023, it reached China's elite Rocket Force, which oversees nuclear weapons as well as conventional missiles, in 2023.
Two former defence ministers were also purged from the ruling Communist Party in recent years for corruption.
Since 2012, at least 17 PLA generals have been removed from their military positions, including eight former top officials, according to a review of military statements and state media reports made by The Associated Press.
What does this latest purge mean?
Several China experts agree that the move against Mr Zhang in particular concentrates Mr Xi's power.
"Zhang's removal means that truly nobody in the leadership is safe now," said Jonathan Czin of the Washington-based Brookings Institution, who called the investigation "astonishing".
Mr Czin, who spent years as a top China analyst for the CIA added that the probe marked a "profound shift" in Chinese politics.
Experts say the move against Mr Zhang concentrates even more power in the president's hands, makes the already secretive command of China's military more opaque, and suggests that a near-term attack on Taiwan is less likely.
"Xi has eviscerated the People's Liberation Army (PLA) top brass like no leader before him," said Neil Thomas, a fellow at the Asia Society.
This is a notable purge because previous removals have focused on people with professional but not personal ties to Mr Xi.
Mr Zhang has in the past overseen the PLA's procurement department which has become the target of a broad corruption crackdown ordered by Mr Xi, but he himself has until now been spared.
James Char, a scholar at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said that by announcing the probe, "Xi has also responded to criticisms that his PLA anti-corruption campaign has been a selective process — that his fellow princeling gets a free pass."
"Zhang had got off scot-free after his acolyte, Li Shangfu, got into trouble in the latter half of 2023," Mr Char added.
Former defence minister Li was ousted for suspected corruption in military procurement.
What does it mean China's military ambitions?
Leaving the army leadership depleted and without replacements raises questions about how the world's largest military is run.
"It is honestly not clear how the chain of command should be functioning — especially since so many of the officers who would otherwise be eligible to replace the disposed members of the CMC have themselves been ousted," Mr Czin said.
Other analysts said they expect higher-level initiatives like expanding joint training to slow down until Mr Xi can rebuild the commission.
"That could look like adding additional members, or it could involve building some sort of new apparatus around Xi as the central decision maker," said Eric Hundman, director of research at BluePath Labs, a Washington-based security consultancy.
Other experts suggested Mr Xi wanted to renew the military leadership and may be waiting until the Communist Party Congress next year to vet candidates.
Until then, the military will continue to push for Xi's ambitious modernization goals, analysts said.
While China has not fought a war in decades, it is taking an increasingly muscular line in regional maritime disputes, as well as over the self-ruled Taiwan, which is claimed by China.
Beijing staged the largest war games to date around Taiwan late last year.
"Gutting the PLA high command suggests that Xi is not contemplating a major military escalation against Taiwan in the near term. But his crackdown is designed to elevate a cadre of more competent and loyal generals who will pose more of a threat in the future," Mr Thomas said.
"Xi is a man on a mission," he added.
"He will do whatever it takes to ensure the Party and its military are politically loyal and ideologically committed."
Reuters/AP/ABC
