China's defence ministry said on Saturday that Zhang Youxia, second-in-command under President Xi Jinping as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), is under investigation. For Washington, Zhang's surprising demise removes a respected and well-known figure within China's military at a time when successive US administrations have worked to build senior-level contacts to avoid mishaps between the world's two most powerful militaries. Thompson said he believed Zhang was the one active-duty PLA officer who could give Xi objective advice about China's military capabilities and shortcomings, as well as the human cost of conflict. US interactions with senior CMC generals have been an infrequent feature of bilateral diplomacy over the past two decades. Eric Hundman, a Chinese military expert at Washington-based security consultancy BluePath Labs, said military-to-military exchanges under Xi, even at the CMC level, tended to be scripted.

Source: The Edge Markets January 29, 2026 14:01 UTC