Xi's Loyalty Crisis: China's Unprecedented Military Purge at Fourth Plenum
- China purges nine top military leaders - CCP Fourth Plenum to draft 5-Year Plan - Xi Jinping congratulates new KMT leader - Taiwan and China mark Retrocession Day - China reports 4.8% quarterly GDP growth Eight of China’s top military leaders were purged last week from the Central Committee of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — and a ninth high-ranking general was removed from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force — just before the CCP holds its Fourth Plenum to draft the country’s next Five-Year Plan. The PLA purges are the most severe since the days of Mao Zedong and show the extent to which Xi Jinping has taken control of the party. It comes ahead of possible talks with US President Donald Trump. Xi also congratulated Taiwan’s newly elected opposition leader, while using Retrocession Day — which marks the end of Japanese rule in Taiwan — to push ‘united front’ narratives. But how might China’s slowing GDP growth affect Xi’s territorial ambitions? In this episode, our guests discuss the latest military purges, the next Five-Year-Plan, the Chinese economy and what it all might mean for a potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait. *Recorded on October 23, 2025 at 11am Taiwan Standard Time Host: Yin Khvat Our guests: Wen-Ti Sung -Atlantic Council Global China Hub Non-Resident Fellow Wei-Feng Tzeng - National Chengchi University Institute of International Relations Associate Research Fellow
