BEIJING ¨C A sweeping purge of Chinese generals has weakened the People¡¯s Liberation Army, exposing deep-rooted corruption that could take more time to fix and slow Chinese leader Xi Jinping¡¯s military modernization drive amid geopolitical tensions, analysts say.
China¡¯s top lawmakers ousted nine senior military officers from the national legislative body on Friday, state media reported, a step that typically precedes further punishment for wayward cadres. Many of these were from the Rocket Force ¡ª a key arm of the PLA overseeing tactical and nuclear missiles.
The purges are a setback for Xi, who has pumped billions into buying and developing equipment as part of his modernizing efforts to build a ¡°world-class¡± military by 2050, with Beijing¡¯s outsized defense budget growing at a faster pace than the economy for some years.
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