Taiwanese authorities said they were monitoring “abnormal” changes at the top of China’s military after the stunning dismissal of the country’s leading general.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping placed Zhang Youxia and another senior officer under investigation for corruption, an astonishing shakeup of military leadership: Zhang reportedly leaked nuclear secrets to the US.
Taipei said it was on alert because the threat from the mainland, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province, remained high. The move further consolidates power in Xi’s hands but raises “doubts about the country’s war readiness,” The Economist noted.
“The PLA is in a major crisis,” one expert warned, “with a level of leadership instability unseen since the heyday of the Cultural Revolution.”