New in @NikkeiAsia: The PLA turns 100 on August 1, 2027. Xi Jinping has 12 months to find generals to put on the reviewing stand, and he does not have them.
Of the 27 posts graded for full general or admiral, 21 have no confirmed occupant. Only six full generals are serving. Some twenty senior billets are run by lieutenant generals in an acting capacity.
He cannot simply promote his way out. For a decade, elevation ran through Zhang Youxia's network or Miao Hua's. Both are gone, and many of the officers they advanced are under investigation. Zhang Youxia read out December's promotion order; 33 days later he was under investigation himself.
So Xi fills the blanks one at a time, starting where the purge cut least: discipline inspection and air force officers who stalled under the old networks and are clean for exactly that reason. The rocket force, where all four commanders in its history have fallen, likely comes last.
The hardest blanks sit on the Central Military Commission itself, whose members are customarily drawn from serving full generals. That pool is nearly empty.
Too many blanks, too few generals, and not much time.
Thanks to @sharp_writing for the fast edit.
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Xi purged his generals. Now he needs new ones
China's leader must rebuild denuded high command before PLA centenary
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