Image by Winston Chen.

Beijing

President Xi Jinping has put the Chinese military in the crosshairs as he proves once again that Mao Zedong’s metaphor, power is gained through the barrel of a gun, remains as relevant today as it was when the communists took power in 1949.

Admiral Miao Hua was responsible for ideology and loyalty within the armed forces. His own loyalty was questioned and he was removed after allegations of corruption. Miao was originally suspended from the CMC in 2024 as he was under investigation for “serious violations of discipline”. Those words, in China, mean guilty of corruption and are as damming as any court verdict.

Miao is the eighth member of the Central Military Commission (it only has six members) to be ousted since Xi took power in 2012. The expulsion of CMC members was previously unheard of since the era of Mao.

His official and permanent departure from the CMC, confirmed on Friday by the........

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