A significant purge within China's military leadership has reportedly left former US President Donald Trump strategically outmanoeuvred, with a defence expert warning the move signals Beijing's preparation for potential war.
A Strategic Purge of Top Brass
Last month, Chinese leader Xi Jinping executed a major reshuffle of the People's Liberation Army, dismissing top generals He Weidong and Miao Hua. The purge, which took place in October, saw nine senior military figures accused of serious corruption by the Chinese Communist Party. This sweeping action is interpreted by analysts as a decisive move to ensure absolute loyalty within the armed forces, particularly within the strategic Rocket Force responsible for China's nuclear arsenal.
Revealing New Nuclear Developments
Adding to international concerns, new satellite photographs have emerged showing extensive construction at a top-secret military base in northwest China. The developments at the clandestine site are believed to include facilities for a new underground nuclear testing site, indicating a significant escalation in China's military capabilities. This comes as China rapidly expands its nuclear stockpile, adding an estimated 100 warheads every year since 2023. While the US possesses 5,177 nuclear warheads and Russia has 5,500, China's current arsenal is estimated at 600, though its accelerated growth rate is a key point of global tension.
Contrasting Military Shake-Ups: China vs. the US
Professor Anthony Glees, a security and defence expert from the University of Buckingham, told the Mirror that the situation has “wrong-footed” Trump. He contrasted the strategic nature of Xi's purge with the Trump administration's own shake-up of the US military, which has been framed as a 'war on woke generals' led by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Professor Glees explained that while the US actions may have political motivations and could potentially weaken military command structures, Xi's purge is designed to create a military “totally committed to the service of the Chinese Communist party and has no mind of its own.” He noted that in a dictatorship, such a purge can be highly effective due to the absence of democratic oversight or public opinion constraints, allowing Xi to aggressively pursue military parity.
Further demonstrating China's military advancement, the nation recently unveiled its latest aircraft carrier, the Fujian. This vessel is China’s first to feature an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS)—a advanced technology shared only by the US Navy's USS Gerald R Ford. This capability allows for the launch of heavier, fully-armed warplanes, a critical asset in any potential future conflict, such as an invasion of Taiwan.
