China Purges 19 Legislature Deputies Days Before National People’s Congress
Nine military officers among those removed as Xi Jinping tightens control ahead of critical political session opening March 6
China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee removed 19 deputies — including nine military officers — just one week before the legislature’s annual session, extending Xi Jinping’s unprecedented military purge into the country’s highest legislative body.
The removals, announced late Thursday by the NPC Standing Committee, did not specify reasons but such dismissals are generally tied to corruption investigations, according to Associated Press reports. The removals leave the National People’s Congress with 2,878 members, while the annual meeting opens next Thursday and is expected to run for a week.
The timing signals calculated political management rather than routine housekeeping. With the NPC session scheduled to open March 5 — just six days after the announcement — the purge ensures no potentially compromised figures participate in deliberations on China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) and key legislative initiatives.
Military Representation Gutted Across All Services
The removed officers include two under the Central Military Commission, the military’s highest body, as well as others from the army, navy, air force and rocket force. Three are generals, according to WSLS.
South China Morning Post identified the nine military officials more specifically: among the deputies removed were five full generals, one lieutenant general and three major generals, including information support force political commissar Li Wei; ground forces commander Li Qiaoming; former navy commander Shen Jinlong; former navy political commissar Qin Shengxiang; former air force political commissar Yu Zhongfu; lieutenant general Wang Donghai, political commissar of the Central Military Commission’s National Defence Mobilisation Department; and major generals Bian Ruifeng of the CMC, Ding Laifu of the ground forces and Yang Guang of the rocket force.
The rocket force, which oversees China’s nuclear arsenal, was an early target of the military purges, reflecting ongoing concerns about corruption in China’s strategic deterrent capabilities.
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Broader Purge Extends Beyond Military
The Standing Committee also fired two officials: the president of the military court and Emergency Management Minister Wang Xiangxi, according to The Republic. Authorities announced last month that Wang is the subject of a corruption investigation.
The other dismissed deputies were regional representatives from several provinces, suggesting the cleanup extends beyond military institutions into provincial power structures.
This continues a pattern established throughout Xi’s tenure. An anti-corruption campaign launched by Chinese leader Xi Jinping shows no sign of letting up after more than a decade. The military has been targeted in recent years, including the removal of its top general last month, as reported by WSLS.
The removal of military deputies from the NPC follows the January 24 announcement that General Zhang Youxia, Xi’s second-in-command in the military hierarchy and a lifelong friend, was under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law.” Zhang’s investigation marked the most dramatic escalation yet of Xi’s military purge, which has removed over 100 senior officers since 2022.
Loyalty Over Competence in Year 14 of Xi’s Rule
Analysts say the campaign is also a way for Xi, who is in his 14th year in power, to remove potential rivals and ensure loyalty among his subordinates, Associated Press reported.
A Center for Strategic and International Studies report released this week documented the extraordinary scale: since 2022, over 100 senior PLA officers from across virtually all areas of the armed forces have been swept aside or gone missing, amounting to an unprecedented purge of China’s military.
The purge has hollowed out China’s command structure at a critical moment. The removal of Zhang, Liu, and several other generals from the Central Military Commission has left only one general, Zhang Shengmin, serving on China’s top military decisionmaking body alongside Xi, according to the CSIS analysis.
Of the 47 PLA leaders who were generals in 2022 or promoted to three-star positions after 2022, 41 of them (or 87 percent) were purged or potentially purged, the CSIS China Power Project found. Even more striking: of the 35 three-star generals and admirals that Xi promoted from 2020 onwards, 32 appear to have been investigated and 29 were subsequently confirmed or potentially purged.
- 19 NPC deputies removed one week before crucial annual session opening March 5
- Nine military officers spanning all services — army, navy, air force, rocket force, and CMC departments
- Emergency Management Minister Wang Xiangxi and military court president also dismissed
- Part of broader purge that has removed 101+ senior officers (52% of top positions) since 2022
- 87% of generals serving or promoted since 2022 have been purged or investigated
Institutional Disruption Versus Political Consolidation
The dismissals aren’t likely to have a major impact on the meeting of the National People’s Congress, which opens next Thursday and is expected to run for a week. The largely ceremonial legislature rubber stamps decisions that have been made by the ruling Communist Party, according to AP reporting.
Yet the operational consequences extend far beyond parliamentary procedure. With the purge of 56 deputy theater commanders, the pool of those who can take over one of those five commands has been culled by more than 33 percent. The purges might have already been reflected in PLA readiness, noted a CNN analysis of the CSIS report.
PLA exercises around Taiwan in response to “problematic” behavior by the self-governing island took substantially longer to implement in 2025 — 19 and 12 days — compared with just four days in 2024, suggesting command disruption is already affecting operational tempo.
Foreign Affairs analysis argues the purges reflect Xi’s successful consolidation rather than weakness: Xi has fought hard to bring the PLA to heel, and there are clear signs that it is paying off. Early on, he announced sweeping changes to the PLA command structure.
What to Watch
The March 5-11 NPC session will reveal whether additional personnel changes follow. Lawmakers are expected to deliberate on the draft environmental code, the draft law on promoting ethnic unity and progress, and the draft law on national development planning, according to Chinese government statements.
More critically, analysts should monitor three vectors:
First, whether Xi appoints replacements for the gutted Central Military Commission or continues operating with minimal general-officer representation, cementing his personal control over military decision-making.
Second, the speed of promotions to fill the 101+ vacancies in senior military positions. Rapid advancement of untested officers could signal prioritization of loyalty over competence, with implications for PLA operational effectiveness through 2027 — Xi’s stated deadline for military modernization.
Third, any signs that the purge extends to the defense industrial base beyond the Rocket Force and Equipment Development Department. In 2025 alone, party discipline authorities targeted 983,000 officials supposedly implicated in more than one million corruption cases, according to AMAC reporting.
The pre-NPC purge suggests Xi views the legislature itself as requiring similar cleansing. That 19 deputies — representing less than 1% of the body — warranted removal days before the session indicates either discovered malfeasance or preemptive elimination of potential dissent. Either interpretation points to a system where political reliability now determines who participates in even ceremonial governance.