China Stonewalls as Foreign Media Press for Answers on Purged Top Generals

China’s then vice chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China Zhang Youxia (center) arrives for a group photo before the opening ceremony of the 19th Western Pacific Naval Symposium in Qingdao, China’s Shandong province on April 22, 2024. Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty ImagesAfter the sudden downfall of two of China’s most senior military leaders, Beijing has largely evaded questions from foreign journalists, exposing strains in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) information control and propaganda efforts.On Jan. 24, China’s Ministry of National Defense announced that Zhang Youxia, a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and Liu Zhenli, a fellow CMC member, were under investigation. Late that night, the military’s official newspaper, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Daily, published a sharply worded editorial condemning both men in language rarely used against military leaders of their rank.