Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli “seriously violated political discipline and political rules, formed cliques and factions, and were disloyal and dishonest to the party”, state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Monday, citing official documents. No details of the alleged crimes were provided.
Investigations into the pair were announced in January, and they were removed from the military in late August. Zhang was long seen as Xi’s closest military ally as second-in-command of the Central Military Commission, China’s supreme command body. Liu was a CMC member and the chief of staff of its Joint Staff Department.