“The fact that Xi Jinping has been able to cashier so many [People's Liberation Army] elites since he assumed power...is a clear sign his position in the regime is unassailable,” James Char of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore told CNN last month, just after Xi’s removal of two senior generals from important command posts. The news outlet summarized the almost unanimous view of analysts: “Xi Has Absolute Control Over China’s Military.” 

But the narrative that Xi controls the military is almost certainly wrong. The purges, taken by almost all as proof of Xi’s power, in fact show the opposite. 

On the 24th of last month, China’s Ministry of National Defense, in a 30-second video, announced that two generals sitting on the Communist Party's Central Military Commission, Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, were placed under investigation.  

Following the video's release, PLA Daily, the main propaganda organ of the Chinese military, accused Zhang and Liu of “seriously trampling on and undermining the system of ultimate responsibility resting with the Central Military Commission chairman.” The chairman of that body, which controls the People’s Liberation Army, is Xi Jinping himself. 

Zhang’s removal was particularly stunning. He was China’s most senior uniformed officer and first vice chairman of the........

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