Chinese Leadership: General Joins Top Party Body Amid Discipline Resolution

Chinese Communist Party leaders elevated Gen. Zhang Shengmin to the Politburo on Thursday, adding the only remaining general from the Central Military Commission to the party's top governing body. The appointment occurred during a four-day closed-door meeting where top leaders also adopted a resolution focused on strengthening internal discipline and anti-corruption efforts.

Zhang currently serves as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and as deputy secretary of its Commission for Discipline Inspection. His elevation to the Politburo fills a gap left by earlier purges of other top generals. Before these recent changes, President Xi Jinping removed two high-ranking military figures, which left Zhang as the sole commission member besides Xi and left the Politburo without any representatives from the People's Liberation Army.

The party adopted a resolution stating that its tasks are increasingly arduous, specifically citing the need to unite and lead the people to safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests. The document emphasizes the necessity of stepping up self-governance to root out corruption and maintain ideological purity. A summary released by the official Xinhua News Agency stated that the party must maintain its progressive nature and purity while keeping close ties with the public.

The meeting serves as a preparatory step for the upcoming leadership transition. The session takes place approximately one year before President Xi Jinping is widely expected to secure his fourth five-year term as the party's leader. During the plenum, party members reviewed and confirmed the personnel changes resulting from the earlier removal of top military officials and other members.

Neil Thomas, a senior fellow at Asia Policy who studies Chinese politics, analyzed the attendance records from the plenum. He calculated an attendance rate of 74 percent, noting that this figure is the lowest recorded since the era of former leader Mao Zedong. Thomas described the purges revealed by the meeting as wider than initially expected. The low attendance rate aligns with a historical period when regular political purges were common under Mao's leadership.

Xi has championed an anti-corruption campaign since assuming power in 2012, sustaining a crackdown on officials for more than a decade. Analysts indicate that the current focus has expanded to include underperforming officials alongside those accused of corruption. The adopted resolutions are intended to guide the party's operations and internal management in the coming years.