China Promotes Two New Generals After Anti-Corruption Purge Thins Military Ranks

Xi Jinping, who chairs the Central Military Commission, presided over a ceremony Friday promoting Zhang Shuguang and air force commander Wang Gang to the rank of full general 12. Zhang, previously a lieutenant general, was named head of the CMC's Discipline Inspection Commission and director of its supervision committee, replacing Zhang Shengmin in that anti-corruption role, according to the South China Morning Post 3. Wang Gang will take over as head of the PLA Air Force, per state broadcaster CCTV as reported by SCMP 3. The commission's ranks have been thinned by corruption investigations naming former vice chairmen Zhang Youxia and He Weidong, former defense ministers Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe, who received suspended death sentences, and former members Liu Zhenli and Miao Hua, leaving Xi and Zhang Shengmin as the panel's only other active members before Friday's promotions 3. NPR and NBC News report a new seven-member commission is expected to be announced in fall 2027, at the end of the current five-year term that began in 2022 12.