Inside China’s Military Purge, Corruption, and Global Silence on PLA Weakness
Why are Chinese soldiers disappearing overnight? This shocking question is now a global concern. From top-ranking generals to mid-level army officials, many in China’s military are either being removed, going missing, or even allegedly committing suicide. In an era where wars are flaring up across the world — from Ukraine to Gaza — the world’s largest army, the PLA (People’s Liberation Army), is missing from action. Why? What’s going on inside Xi Jinping’s China?
In this article, we explore the deepening trust crisis between Xi Jinping and the Chinese army, the shocking corruption inside the PLA, and why China’s military might be far weaker than the world assumed. We’ll also connect this internal crisis to India’s recent Operation Sindoor — and how it triggered a major meltdown inside Beijing’s command structure.
China’s Military History and the Rise of the Modern PLA
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is the largest standing army in the world — boasting over 2 million active personnel. However, its reputation has always leaned more towards quantity than quality. Historically, the PLA was forged during the Chinese Civil War and Mao Zedong’s rise to power, acting not only as a military institution but also as an armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Unlike Western militaries, the PLA’s top loyalty isn’t to the nation — but to the party leadership. This political orientation has shaped the PLA’s structure, where promotions are often based on loyalty over merit. The last real war the PLA fought was in 1979 against Vietnam, where China faced a humiliating loss despite its numerical strength. Since then, China has invested heavily in modernizing its military, acquiring stealth jets, missiles, and cyber capabilities.
But appearances can be deceptive. The cracks in China’s military foundation were invisible to the outside world until very recently — when an internal purge exposed the rot beneath the surface.
Mass Disappearances, Weapon Failures, and Xi Jinping’s Crackdown
The recent months have seen an unprecedented wave of disappearances inside China’s top military brass. Most notably, General He Weidong, the vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission (just below Xi Jinping), has vanished from public view since March 2025. This isn’t an isolated case. In the past two years alone, over 20 generals have been removed, some arrested, others missing, and at least one allegedly committed suicide in custody.
So, why is Xi Jinping purging his own army?
Multiple Pentagon and global intelligence reports suggest widespread corruption within the PLA. From rigged weapons contracts to outdated missile sites, the rot goes deep. In one case, missiles were found filled with water instead of fuel. In 2023 alone, Chinese anti-corruption agencies traced over 1.2 million suspicious military procurement deals, with 92,000 people penalized and 1,300 officials warned or dismissed.
This internal military collapse was further exposed during India’s Operation Sindoor, where Pakistan used China-supplied weapons — all of which failed miserably against Indian firepower. Chinese drones couldn’t enter Indian airspace, their missiles missed targets, and their air defense systems malfunctioned. This humiliating failure rattled Beijing’s confidence.
Rather than confront this weakness globally, Xi Jinping turned inward, launching a campaign to eliminate every military officer suspected of corruption — even if they were once his close allies. But beyond corruption, there’s a political motive too.
With CCP elections due next year, Xi Jinping wants total control over the PLA, ensuring no internal threat challenges his hold on power. The army, which is legally an extension of the party, not the state, is seen as his tool to suppress dissent — not fight wars.
The Real Reason China Won’t Join Any Global War Today
Despite growing tensions in Taiwan, the South China Sea, and the Middle East, China’s army remains disturbingly silent. Why? Because Xi Jinping no longer trusts his own soldiers.
Most PLA recruits are forced conscripts, lacking emotional commitment to the nation. Reports and leaked videos show Chinese soldiers crying at deployment, contrasting starkly with India’s or the US’s battle-ready troops. PLA soldiers lack real combat experience, and their training is focused more on political indoctrination than warfare.
A RAND Corporation report in January 2025 confirmed this. It revealed that PLA prioritizes loyalty to the CCP over battlefield readiness. The report stated that many commanders had zero combat training, and China’s last war experience — Vietnam, 1979 — ended in failure. Since then, PLA drills have remained largely simulated and scripted, with no real-world credibility.
This also explains why China didn’t support Iran militarily during the Israel-Iran conflict. Or why it stayed silent during Russia’s setbacks in Ukraine. Beijing isn’t ready for a real war — not because it lacks weapons, but because it lacks soldiers it can trust.
Implications and What It Means for the World
The PLA’s internal breakdown has serious global consequences. For one, the myth of China as a near-invincible superpower is beginning to collapse. Nations like India, the US, Taiwan, and Japan may rethink their defensive postures, realizing that the real Chinese threat might be political bluster more than actual force.
Second, Xi Jinping’s desperate attempts to secure loyalty through purges and propaganda could backfire. As trust in the military erodes, the possibility of internal dissent or even a military coup — though rare in CCP history — becomes a risk. Many analysts now believe that Xi’s paranoia is his greatest weakness.
Third, this moment should be a wake-up call for the world to differentiate between propaganda and power. China may still be a massive economy with cyber capabilities, but its military backbone is fragile, hollowed by decades of corruption and political games.
The vanishing soldiers and missing generals are not just a scandal — they’re a symptom of a deeper rot in China’s military. Xi Jinping’s PLA isn’t just unready for war — it might be incapable of surviving one. Corruption, lack of loyalty, poor morale, and an obsession with political control have left China’s army limping beneath the surface of its grand global ambitions.
As the world watches China’s next moves, one thing becomes clear: the real war for Xi Jinping isn’t with America or India — it’s within his own military.
What do you think — is the world overestimating China’s strength? Or will this internal purge make the PLA stronger in the long run?
