February 27, 2026: Chinese leader Xi Jinping has removed over 30 generals and admirals in the last three years. Nearly all were charged with corruption. This purge reduced the seven-member Central Military Commission to just two, Xi and a newly promoted vice chairman of the committee that controls Chinese peacetime and wartime military operations. Xi has not revealed a lot of information on exactly why these long-serving and very experienced officers were removed. It is assumed to be corruption. In China, corruption in military procurement is an ancient and destructive tradition.

While these criminal practices disappeared for a decade or so after the communist took over in 1948, the problem soon resumed and has been spinning out of control. Twenty years ago, in an attempt to rein in sticky-fingered officers, the government performed financial audits on 4,000 senior military officers. This included a hundred of the most senior, army commanders and above, who had access to the most opportunities to get rich illegally. These audits are not something particularly new. Over the past five years, auditors examined 77,000 military organizations and projects, as well as 7,890 officers. The auditors reported that they had recovered $850 million. There were also some prosecutions. The main intention of the audits is to discourage officers from stealing. The thefts have become so pervasive that many officers consider it a legitimate way to augment their low pay. The audits are also used to evaluate officers for promotion.

Xi’s recent purge is not expected to eliminate this corruption. The newly promoted officers who replaced the recently removed ones will require a few years of work to settle into their new positions. After that the corruption will resume. It always does.