Highlights

• Xi Jinping removed Gen. Zhang Youxia, the second-most powerful PLA figure and longtime confidant, for "grave violations of discipline," marking an unprecedented collapse of China's military leadership.
• Since 2022, Xi has purged all but one of the generals he personally appointed, reducing the Central Military Commission to effectively just Xi and a single enforcer overseeing the cleanup.
• The destabilized PLA command reinforces Xi's push for tighter control over strategic supply chains including rare earths and defense-critical materials, strengthening the case for Western supply chain independence.

Xi Jinping has escalated his long-running purge of China’s military elite with the investigation and removal of Gen. Zhang Youxia, the second-most powerful figure in the People’s Liberation Army command structure. Zhang, a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and longtimeconfidant of Xi, was accused of “grave violations of discipline and the law,” alongside another senior commander, signaling what analysts describe as an unprecedented collapse of the PLA’s top leadership layer.

Removed—Part of Consolidation of Power

With Zhang and Gen. Liu Zhenli sidelined as cited by sources such as the New York Times (opens in a new tab), the Central Military Commission has effectively been reduced to Xi and a single enforcer overseeing purges—underscoring Xi’s conclusion that corruption and disloyalty are so entrenched that the system cannot self-correct. Since 2022, Xi has removed all but one of the generals he personally appointed.

Remember, there are three layers of national power across China—The State, the Military, and the Party. 

Why this matters for rare earths and critical minerals:

China’s military, industrial policy, and resource control are tightly coupled. A destabilized PLA high command increases internal risk aversion while reinforcing Xi’s push for tighter political control over strategic supply chains—especially rare earths, magnets, and defense-critical materials.

For the West, this raises near-term uncertainty but strengthens the long-term case for accelerated ex-China rare earth supply chains, redundancy, and national security stockpiling.