00:00Music
00:09In a stunning development, China's top general, who was once a close ally of President Xi Jinping,
00:15is under investigation for allegedly leaking nuclear secrets to the United States
00:20and accepting large bribes for official acts.
00:24Zhen Zhang Yuxia, aged 75, a member of China's Politburo and one of Xi's most trusted military figures,
00:31is facing allegations of severe violations of party discipline and state law.
00:37According to a high-level briefing reported by the Wall Street Journal, Zhang is accused of forming political cliques,
00:43abusing his authority within the Central Military Commission,
00:46and accepting substantial sums in exchange for promotions,
00:50including that of former Defence Minister Li Xiangfu.
00:55The most shocking allegation is that Zhang said to have leaked core technical data
01:00on China's nuclear weapons to the United States.
01:03Some of the evidence reportedly came from Gu Jun,
01:06former general manager of the China National Nuclear Corporation,
01:10which oversees both civilian and military nuclear programs.
01:14Now, Gu himself is also under investigation for serious violations.
01:19In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, Liu Peng Yu, spokesperson at the Chinese Embassy in Washington,
01:25emphasized that the investigation underscored the party's
01:29full-coverage, zero-tolerance approach to combating corruption.
01:34Analysts say that Xi's crackdown marked the most aggressive reshaping of China's military leadership since the Mao era.
01:42Christopher Johnson of the China Strategies Group, a political risk consulting firm,
01:48called it unprecedented in the history of the Chinese military,
01:52and described the move as the total annihilation of the high command.
01:57Zhang's alleged misconduct extended to his promotion of Li Xiangfu,
02:02who was removed as Defence Minister in 2023 and later expelled from the party for corruption.
02:08A special task force has now been dispatched to investigate Zhang's tenure as commander of the Shenyang military region from 2007 to 2012,
02:18reportedly staying in local hotels rather than military bases to avoid his network of influence.
02:24The purge has already impacted thousands of officers with ties to Zhang and Zhen Liu Zhenli,
02:31Chief of the Joint Staff Department, who is also under investigation.
02:36Experts warned that this hollowing out of senior ranks could affect the People's Liberation Army's combat readiness.
02:43M. Taylor Fravel, Director of MIT's Security Studies Program, noted that overseeing a large and complex military organisation with so few senior officers is untenable,
02:55and could limit the PLA's ability to conduct major operations in the short to medium term.
03:01Observers say Xi's decisive actions reflect both a consolidation of power and a warning.
03:09Entrenched corruption, patronage networks and security breaches are existential threats to China's military objectives,
03:16including its posture toward Taiwan.
03:19For now, Zhang Yuxia and Gu Jun have not commented publicly,
03:25and Chinese authorities have confirmed only that a thorough investigation is underway.
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