By Li Deyan, Vision Times
As fallout continues from the shocking detention of senior Chinese military figures Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, new reports suggest that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership is struggling to retroactively legitimize actions that many within the system now view as “procedurally illegal.”
According to overseas Chinese dissidents citing internal sources, an emergency Politburo meeting convened by Chinese President Xi Jinping on Jan. 30 was aimed at “patching up” legal formalities after the arrests, amid growing internal dissent and alarm within the military. The Politburo serve as China’s top ruling body.
On Jan. 24, China’s Ministry of National Defense abruptly announced that Central Military Commission (CMC) Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia and Joint Staff Department Chief Liu Zhenli were under investigation for “serious disciplinary and legal violations.” The announcement sent shockwaves through the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), with reverberations still unfolding.
RELATED: How the Chinese Communist Party Destroys Its Own: The Falls of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli
Emergency meetings amid growing dissent
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On Feb. 2, state media Xinhua reported that the 59th Chairpersons’ Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) was hastily convened in Beijing. The agenda included reviewing a report on the “qualification of certain NPC deputies.” Hong Kong’s Sing Tao Daily noted that such meetings are normally held at month’s end, raising speculation that the emergency session, lasting just one day, was intended to strip Zhang and Liu of their state-level posts and NPC delegate status.
Because the CCP’s Central Military Commission and the state CMC operate as “one set of people, two nameplates,” removing their NPC status would serve as a key procedural step in formalizing their downfall.
Earlier, on Jan. 30, the Politburo convened its first meeting since Zhang’s detention. Official coverage stated that the meeting discussed “other matters,” a phrase long understood in CCP parlance to signal sensitive internal disputes not disclosed publicly.
Internal consensus: Arrests violated procedure
U.S.-based Chinese dissident Tang Baiqiao revealed on X that “a certain level of consensus” has formed within the CCP that the detentions of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli constitute “illegal detention carried out without lawful procedure.”
According to Tang, party rules require that any disciplinary action against a Politburo member, particularly a CMC vice chairman, must be deliberated and approved through a formal Politburo meeting and vote. “This arrest did not go through Politburo deliberation, nor was any vote held,” Tang said, adding that Xi convened the Jan. 30 meeting only after the fact in an apparent attempt to legitimize the arrests retroactively.
RELATED: Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli Under Probe as Power Struggle Heats Up in Beijing
Tang further disclosed that during the Jan. 30 meeting, at least one senior official openly challenged the legality of Xi’s actions and urged him to correct the mistake, with others voicing agreement. “I’ve said it before, this isn’t over,” Tang wrote.
Political commentator Tang Jingyuan noted that official claims the arrests were made “after deliberation by the Party Central” are legally hollow. “Between Jan. 20 and Jan. 29, Xi did not convene a Politburo meeting, a Standing Committee meeting, or a Central Committee plenum. This was a classic case of non-organizational decision-making and procedural illegality,” he said.
Silence from the military
Despite repeated editorials in the PLA Daily calling for loyalty and condemning Zhang and Liu, no wave of coordinated endorsements has emerged from the CMC, theater commands, service branches, or military academies, an unusual silence compared with past purges of figures like Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou.
Instead, some units, including the Beijing Garrison and the 82nd Group Army tasked with defending the capital, have focused political study sessions on “Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military,” a move analysts interpret as passive resistance rather than enthusiastic support.
RELATED: Reports Claim Armed Clash in Zhang Youxia Detention as Xi Jinping Intensifies Military Purge
Veteran journalist Yan Chungho warned that Xi’s move represents a high-stakes gamble with three possible outcomes: complete consolidation of power, prolonged instability amid economic decline and civil unrest, or open resistance from regional military commanders.
Videos circulating online show military vehicles and aircraft movements across several provinces, fueling speculation about internal maneuvering. While these reports remain unconfirmed, multiple sources describe rising anxiety within the ranks.
No due process
Former Inner Mongolia official Du Wen, now based in Europe, cited a senior military insider who claimed that “over 60 percent of enlisted soldiers and more than 80 percent of officers sympathize with or support Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli.”
Zhang’s nearly 60-year military career reportedly created a dense patronage network. Many officers promoted or approved by him are seen, under CCP logic, as part of his faction. Against this backdrop, PLA media’s call for the army to undergo “rebirth through changing feathers” has been interpreted as a signal for an all-out purge.
Du Wen explained that the phrase implies “pulling feathers and breaking beaks like an eagle,” a ruthless cleansing that leaves no one safe. He added that one senior officer conveyed a chilling sentiment reflecting despair among grassroots commanders: “If Xi Jinping comes to inspect our unit, I guarantee I will personally kill him.”
As the CCP attempts to retroactively legitimize the arrests of two of its most powerful generals, the episode has exposed deep procedural fractures, and a military whose silence may speak louder than slogans.