Xi Expels 16 Military Members, Raising Total Party Purges to Record 51 During Closed‑Door Plenum

At a four‑day closed‑door plenum in Beijing, 33 members of the Chinese Communist Party were expelled, 16 of whom were from the military. The expulsions bring the total number of members removed under Xi Jinping’s third term to a record 51, up from 34 and five in his first two terms. The party cited "serious disciplinary and legal violations," a broad charge that has become routine in Xi’s anti‑corruption campaign, which the party frames as an effort to consolidate authority and enforce strict self‑governance. The purge includes former Xinjiang party chief Ma Xingrui, ex‑generals Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, and other high‑ranking officials, signalling a significant shake‑up of the military’s leadership and raising questions about organisational leadership and combat readiness. The Central Committee’s attendance fell below 300 for the first time in Xi’s 14 years, and the anti‑corruption watchdog reported that 680,000 party members were disciplined in the first nine months of the year.