China sentenced two former defense ministers to suspended death sentences, the most senior officials to be punished in a wide-ranging military anti-corruption push.
The pair are among around 100 top officers to be dismissed or disappeared, according to a recent assessment, raising questions over the true capabilities of China’s military amid a purported push to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027 and fears among Asian leaders over what they see as a more aggressive Beijing.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping, meanwhile, risks creating deep shortcomings by pursuing what two Asia Society researchers dubbed a “forever purge” — “bureaucratic paralysis, a depleted elite, and the possibility that a highly centralized discipline system will prove untenable once Xi himself is gone.”