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China investigating top general over serious violations, says defence ministry

Published

6 days ago

January 25, 2026

China investigating top general over serious violations, says defence ministry

Jan 24 (Reuters) – China’s most senior general is under investigation, China’s defence ministry said on Saturday, in the highest-profile purge to date of senior military leadership just as Beijing modernises its forces and tries to further project its might.

Zhang Youxia serves as second-in-command under President Xi Jinping as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission – the supreme command body – and has long been seen as Xi’s closest military ally.

The ministry said Zhang and Liu Zhenli, chief of staff of the CMC’s Joint Staff Department, were under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law.

Zhang is also a member of the elite Politburo of the ruling Communist Party and is one of just a few leading officers with combat experience.

SWEEPING CRACKDOWN TARGETS MILITARY

The military was one of the main targets of a broad corruption crackdown ordered by Xi in 2012. That drive reached the upper echelons of the People’s Liberation Army in 2023 when the elite Rocket Force was targeted.

Zhang’s removal is the second of a sitting general on the Central Military Commission since the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. He has not been seen in public since November 20, when he held talks with Russia’s defence minister in Moscow.

Foreign diplomats and security analysts are watching developments closely, given Zhang’s closeness to Xi and the importance of the commission’s work in terms of command as well as the PLA’s ongoing military modernisation and posture.

CHINA IS FLEXING MIGHT

While China has not fought a war in decades, it is taking an increasingly muscular line in the disputed East China Sea and South China Sea, as well as over the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which is claimed by China. Beijing staged the largest military exercises to date around Taiwan late last year.

Singapore-based China security scholar James Char said the military’s daily operations could carry on as normal despite the purges but the targeting of Zhang showed Xi was reacting to criticism that the crackdown had been too selective.

“Xi has been tapping on second-line PLA officers to fill those roles vacated by their predecessors – on an interim basis in most cases,” said Char, a scholar at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Item 1 of 2 China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia salutes at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, China October 30, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool/File Photo

[1/2]China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia salutes at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, China October 30, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

“China’s military modernizers will continue to push for the two goals Xi has set for the PLA – namely, 2035 to basically complete its modernisation and 2049 to become a world-class armed forces.”

Zhang is the second vice chair of the CMC to fall from grace in recent months. Former CMC vice chair He Weidong was expelled from the party and PLA in October last year for corruption. He was replaced by Zhang Shengmin.

Eight top generals were expelled from the Communist Party on graft charges in October 2025, including He Weidong.

Two former defence ministers were also purged from the ruling party in recent years for corruption. The crackdown is slowing procurement of advanced weaponry and hitting the revenues of some of China’s biggest defence firms.

CHILDREN OF CIVIL WAR VETERANS

Both Xi and Zhang are from the northwestern province of Shaanxi and are the children of former senior officials who fought together in the 1940s civil war.

Born in Beijing, Zhang joined the army in 1968, rising through the ranks and joining the military commission in late 2012 as the PLA’s modernisation drive gathered pace.

A Pentagon profile of Zhang in late 2023 noted that Zhang had been expected to retire in 2022, aged 72, given usual military practice.

“However, Zhang’s retention on the CMC for a third term probably reflects Xi’s desire to keep a close and experienced ally as his top military adviser,” the profile said, contained within the Pentagon’s annual report on China’s military that year.

He fought Vietnam in a brief but bloody border war in 1979 that China launched in punishment for Vietnam invading Cambodia the previous year and ousting the Beijing-backed Khmer Rouge.

Zhang was 26 when he was sent to the front lines to fight the Vietnamese and was quickly promoted, according to state media. He also fought in another border clash with Vietnam in 1984 as the conflict rumbled on.

“During the battle, whether attacking or defending, Zhang Youxia performed excellently,” the official China Youth Daily wrote in a 2017 piece entitled, “These Chinese generals have killed the enemy on the battlefield”.

Some China scholars have noted that Zhang emerged from the conflict an avowed moderniser in terms of military tactics, weapons and the need for a better trained force.

Reporting by Reuters staff; editing by Tom Hogue, Mark Heinrich and Sharon Singleton

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World

Venezuela releases all known American detainees after Maduro’s capture and government takeover

Published

11 hours ago

January 31, 2026

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Venezuela releases all known American detainees after Maduro’s capture and government takeover

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All known American citizens being held in Venezuela have been released, the U.S. Embassy said Friday evening.

“We are pleased to confirm the release by the interim authorities of all known U.S. citizens held in Venezuela,” the embassy wrote on X. “Should you have information regarding any other U.S. citizens still detained, please contact American Citizen Services.”

No other details about the detainees were disclosed. Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department.

VENEZUELA’S DELCY RODRÍGUEZ SNAPS AT WASHINGTON, DECLARES ‘ENOUGH’ OF US INFLUENCE

Venezuelans burn a U.S. flag after the announcement of the U.S. attacks and the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. The U.S. government on Friday said all known Americans being detained in the country had been released. (Stringer/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Interim authorities have slowly released American detainees in the weeks since the U.S. capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

Both are being held in New York City on federal narco-terrorism charges.

Earlier this month, Venezuela’s interim government reported that 116 prisoners had been released, although only about 70 have been verified by the non-governmental organization Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón, according to Bloomberg.

STATE DEPT CONFIRMS ‘LIMITED NUMBER’ OF PERSONNEL IN CARACAS WORKING TO RESUME VENEZUELA DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores parade in a military vehicle during celebrations for Independence Day in Caracas July 5, 2025. (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)

Earlier this month, the U.S. government announced a travel alert advising against travel to the country. Americans in the country were advised to depart immediately.

“The security situation in Venezuela remains fluid. The U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia, warns U.S. citizens not to travel to Venezuela, reiterating warnings against travel to Venezuela dating to 2019. As international flights have resumed, U.S. citizens in Venezuela should leave the country immediately.”

The country is being run by Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s former lieutenant.

This week, Rodriguez signed a law overhauling the nation’s oil sector, opening it to privatization and reversing a core policy of the socialist government that has ruled Venezuela for more than two decades.

The State Department told Fox News a “limited number” of people are working on the ground in Venezuela. (Reuters)

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On Jan. 10, President Donald Trump said American energy companies will invest $100 billion to rebuild Venezuela’s “rotting” oil infrastructure and push production to record levels.

World

Israeli forces kill 12 Palestinians across Gaza, attacks reported in Rafah

Published

12 hours ago

January 31, 2026

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Israeli forces kill 12 Palestinians across Gaza, attacks reported in Rafah

Multiple attacks across the besieged enclave a day before Israel is expected to reopen the Rafah border crossing.

Published On 31 Jan 2026

At least 12 Palestinians, half of them children, have been killed in the Gaza Strip since dawn, a day before the Rafah crossing is due to reopen.

An Israeli air strike on Saturday on a tent sheltering displaced people in the al-Mawasi area to the northwest of Khan Younis city killed at least seven Palestinians, including three children, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

Rafah reopening

Residents in the border town of Rafah also reported several air attacks in areas under Israeli control. Israel is due to reopen the Rafah crossing, which links Gaza with Egypt, on Sunday for the first time since May 2024.

The opening of the key entry point is part of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas. It was meant to open during the first phase of the ceasefire, but Israel refused to do so until the body of its last remaining captive was found.

Israel on Saturday said it would only allow a “limited movement of people” who have received security clearance by Israel to enter and exit. No aid or humanitarian supplies will be allowed to enter.

“Only those who fled during the past two years are allowed to come back,” Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud explained. “Those who are born outside the Gaza Strip are not going to be allowed to come back.”

Hamas responded to the Rafah announcement by calling for Israel to allow movement in and out of Gaza “without restrictions”, and urged it to adhere to all aspects of the ceasefire agreement.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 71,600 Palestinians since October 7, 2023.

(Al Jazeera)

World

Video: Canada’s Prime Minister Meets ‘Heated Rivalry’ Star on Red Carpet

Published

22 hours ago

January 30, 2026

Press Room

Video: Canada’s Prime Minister Meets ‘Heated Rivalry’ Star on Red Carpet

new video loaded: Canada’s Prime Minister Meets ‘Heated Rivalry’ Star on Red Carpet

The actor Hudson Williams gave Prime Minister Mark Carney a fictional Canada Olympic Team fleece jacket that his character wore on “Heated Rivalry,” which has become a global phenomenon.

By Axel Boada

January 30, 2026