Top Chinese general ousted over alleged leak of nuclear secrets to the US
A top Chinese general ousted by Xi Jinping for a “serious violation of discipline” was accused of leaking nuclear secrets to the US, according to reports.
Gen Zhang Youxia, the operational leader of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), is facing allegations of handing Chinese nuclear weapons data to Washington, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The 75-year-old was dismissed on Saturday. During a closed-door briefing with top military officers, Gen Zhang was also accused of accepting a bribe to promote a senior officer to defense minister and forming “political cliques.”
It was attended by some of the highest-ranking officers in the PLA. Hours later, Beijing announced General Zhang was facing an inquiry.
Gu Jun, former manager of China National Nuclear Corp, which oversees both civilian and military nuclear programs, was reported to have presented evidence against the general.
Mr. Gu is also under investigation as part of a wide-ranging corruption inquiry into China’s defense and nuclear industries, Beijing announced last week.
Officials told Saturday’s briefing that the investigation into Mr. Gu had uncovered a security breach inside the nuclear sector to which Mr. Zhang was allegedly connected.
Gen Zhang has survived multiple rounds of military purges that have hollowed out the top echelons of China’s armed forces over recent years.
He is one of the few commanders with direct combat experience, having fought in China’s brief war with Vietnam in 1979.
Considered close to untouchable as a childhood acquaintance of the president, his downfall marks the most dramatic dismissal yet in Mr. Xi’s long-running effort to root out corruption and disloyalty within the military.
Since taking office, Mr. Xi has more than doubled China’s defense budget as part of a drive to turn the PLA into a “world-class” fighting force by 2049.
According to US intelligence, he has also ordered the military to be ready to invade Taiwan by next year.
In October, in a sign of mounting frustration over the pace of reform, nine senior generals were removed, including He Weidong, a former vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC).
The latest round of arrests means that the CMC is left with two members – one being Mr. Xi. Every one of the six uniformed commanders appointed to the body in 2022 has now been removed.
Once central to China’s military modernization, the commission has now been reduced to its smallest size in history, prompting analysts to predict that Beijing’s ambitions towards Taiwan may have been set back by years.
World Affairs Correspondent
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