China has eradicated “serious hidden dangers” in its Communist Party and military under President Xi Jinping’s leadership, a senior official said on Oct. 30, a day after authorities confirmed the expulsion of a record 33 figures.
In more than a decade in charge, Xi has cracked down hard on graft, ensnaring thousands of officials and purging dozens of members of the powerful Central Committee and a string of top military brass.
As a four-day plenum of the Central Committee wrapped up on Oct. 29, state media confirmed 33 more dignitaries had been ejected, including former Politburo member Zhang Youxia, once China’s highest-ranking general.
The plenum adopted a decision on “advancing full and rigorous governance of the party”, which includes reducing corruption among cadres, state news agency Xinhua said.
Proponents say China’s corruption purge promotes clean governance, but analysts have said the moves were aimed at paving the way for Xi to extend his rule at a Party Congress due in the second half of 2027.
The Central Committee, “with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core”, has “eliminated serious hidden dangers within the Party, the state and the military,” Zhang Fuhai, deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), said on Oct. 30.
The Party, he told reporters at a news briefing, had been guided by the sense of mission that “we would rather offend thousands than let down 1.4 billion people”, referring to China’s population.
The CCDI’s Zhang Fuhai said that discipline inspection and supervisory organs in the country have punished 7.9 million people since 2012.
