China Records Unprecedented CCP Expulsions as Xi Tightens Grip on Party and Military

By Staff, Agencies

China expelled a record 33 officials from the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] during its fifth plenum this week, as President Xi Jinping continues an intensified campaign targeting senior figures across the party and military. 

The gathering was marked by an unprecedented number of vacant seats, highlighting the scale of the ongoing purges.

Only 279 full and alternate members of the CCP's Central Committee attended the meeting, compared with the 376 originally appointed in 2022. More than 25% of the original membership was absent, marking the highest number of vacant seats at a plenum in modern Chinese history. 

Confirmed expulsions included Zhang Youxia, formerly the country's second-highest-ranking military official, and Ma Xingrui, former party secretary of Xinjiang. The reasons behind other absences remain unexplained.

The gathering focused on party governance and internal discipline. Since assuming power in 2012, Xi has made combating corruption a central priority. 

However, the campaign has increasingly extended to senior party and military officials, prompting questions among analysts over whether it is also being used to sideline political rivals and punish disloyalty. 

Earlier this year, Xi described the need to uproot "sick trees" within the party, insisting that the fight against corruption was a "never-ending journey."

The purges have significantly reduced the membership of China's seven-member Central Military Commission, the country's highest military leadership body. 

Only two members remain: Xi Jinping himself and Zhang Shengmin, the military's senior anti-corruption official. 

Zhang was promoted to the CCP Politburo during this week's gathering, making him the only military representative in the party's top leadership body.

The plenum also laid the groundwork for the 21st Party Congress, expected to take place in the second half of 2027. 

Xi is widely expected to seek a fourth term, potentially becoming the longest-serving leader of Communist China since Mao Zedong. 

The congress will also reshape the Central Committee and Politburo, although analysts warn that the extensive purges may have left a limited pool of candidates eligible for senior promotions.