China promotes military chief to top party council after purge

China’s top leadership moved Thursday to fill a military vacancy on the Politburo, the party's highest decision-making body. The Communist Party elected Gen. Zhang Shengmin to the group, ending a period where no People's Liberation Army representative held a seat. This move follows a recent wave of purges that removed two senior generals from key positions.

Zhang currently serves as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. He is the only general remaining on that commission besides President Xi Jinping. The promotion restores military representation to the Politburo after Xi’s earlier dismissals left the council without a uniformed member. Zhang also holds a discipline role as deputy secretary of the CMC Commission for Discipline Inspection.

During a four-day closed-door meeting, leaders adopted a resolution focused on strengthening party self-governance. The document calls for tighter control over internal discipline and a renewed push against corruption. Party officials described the tasks ahead as increasingly arduous, citing the need to safeguard national sovereignty and development interests.

The resolution emphasizes long-term governance capacity. It instructs the party to maintain ideological purity and close ties with the public. Xinhua News Agency reported that the party must root out corruption to sustain its progressive nature. This aligns with Xi's anti-corruption campaign, which has targeted officials for over a decade.

Analysts note the crackdown has expanded beyond financial misconduct. Neil Thomas, a senior fellow at Asia Policy who studies Chinese politics, observed that underperforming officials are now also in focus. The meeting serves as a strategic pivot as Xi approaches the end of his current term. He is widely expected to secure a fourth five-year term as party leader in the coming year.

Party members reviewed the earlier personnel changes during the session. They confirmed the removals of top military and party officials. The plenum revealed a wider scope of purges than initially anticipated. Thomas calculated an attendance rate of 74 percent for the meeting, the lowest since the era of former leader Mao Zedong.