Zhang Youxia Escapes Disaster? 9 Generals Purged! 3 Signs Reveal Xi’s True Position

In just a few days, Beijing has been rocked again and again. The National People's Congress has dismissed 19 officials and nine generals have fallen, yet Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli remain untouched, as if wearing an imperial yellow jacket in the midst of an unresolved power struggle. At the same time, Li Chaoming has been swept into the eye of the storm by rumors of a coup at Zhongnanhai, raising an even hotter question. Is he finished because of an attempted coup or because he became the target of an internal purge? Meanwhile, rumors that Wang Xiaohong has met with trouble, along with three hard indicators, are exposing what some see as Xi Jinping's growing political deadlock. And that's not all. A new report from OpenAI has laid bare an alleged network of transnational repression linked to the Chinese Communist Party, pushing the regime's image crisis to a new level. Where will this political drama ultimately lead? Let's take a closer look in today's program. The National People's Congress still can't remove Zhang and Liu. On the afternoon of February 25, 2026, the 21st session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress was held in Beijing. Nineteen individuals were stripped of their status as NPC deputies and removed from their posts. Among them were nine military generals who fell from power, including the well-known PLA army general Li Qiaoming, along with five other generals associated with Xi's faction. Yet Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli did not appear on the list. That omission itself has become a major point of suspicion. Not only were the two men not stripped of their NPC delegate status, but removing them from their even more powerful positions would be even harder to accomplish quickly. Some have compared them to officials in the Qing dynasty who were granted the Yellow Jacket, an imperial robe that signified special protection. Once wearing it, no official could execute them without a direct order from the emperor. Although the emperor of today's Chinese Communist regime is Xi Jinping, even he appears unable to act because the two factions are currently locked in a tense power struggle. This so-called Yellow Jacket, therefore, is widely believed to have been granted by the anti-Xi camp. When, or whether, it can be removed remains very difficult to say. This time, a number of former commanders from the navy, army, and air force have fallen, a political earthquake within the military. And inevitably, we must talk about the name Li Qiaoming. Li has become a central figure in recent overseas rumors, claiming that he launched a military mutiny and marched into Xiongnanhai. But is that really the case? As of now, Li Qiaoming is effectively finished. The real question is whether he is finished because of an attempted coup, as the rumors claim, or because of other internal issues that had already put him at risk. Recently, online rumors circulated that on February 21st, the fifth day of Lunar New Year, gunfire was heard in Beijing, even reportedly near Xiongnanhai. That morning, shortly after 7 a.m., intense gunshots were allegedly heard in the Xiongnanhai area. At the same time, some residents reported seeing military vehicles and armored cars moving through central Beijing toward Xiongnanhai. The claim was that PLA army commander Li Qiaoming, deeply dissatisfied with Zhang Yuxi's alleged arrest and Xi Jinping's political direction, led troops into Beijing and attempted to force a reckoning with Xi. However, according to journalist Li Dayu, Li Qiaoming, as army commander, would not have had the authority to carry out such an action. Following the 2015-2016 military reforms, the PLA army, as a service branch, has authority mainly over training, including recruitment and routine troop management. It does not possess operational command authority to independently lead troops into action. In other words, Li simply would not have had the power to mobilize forces in that way. But there's one point that can't be ignored. The Chinese communist system is ultimately a system ruled by people, not by institutions. At its core is the principle that the party commands the gun. The system itself is only one layer. When things reach a critical moment, the system becomes a tool, something used to deal with others in a way that appears legitimate and procedural. In reality, however, factional clans and political families play an especially prominent and powerful role. Many of them are descendants of elite communist party families, or long-time loyal stewards of those families. Together, they form a massive force operating behind the scenes, something you won't see in the news, can't directly touch, and will never truly reach if you only analyze the formal system. Yet this group exerts enormous influence within the CCP structure. The question is, do these people all unquestioningly obey Xi Jinping? That's why overseas rumors claiming that Li Qiaoming launched a military mutiny should be viewed with caution. Their credibility is widely considered low. At the same time, one cannot entirely rule out the possibility of unusual events occurring under such a system. Some overseas commentators, such as one who goes by the name Zuo Tengpeng, point out that Li Qiaoming, the army commander, had effectively disappeared for nearly a year. During that time, narratives about him kept shifting. Now he has finally reappeared in public view, but not in a safe landing. Instead, he was stripped of his status as a National People's Congress deputy. There was no formal public announcement about his case. Rather, his name was quietly removed from the NPC delegate list along with eight other officers, including generals and lieutenant generals. According to journalist Li Dayu, Li Qiaoming was believed to have closer ties to Zhang Youxia. For that reason, many suspect that Li's downfall is connected in some way to Zhang. However, it's also possible that within the highly complex internal struggles of the CCP system, Li himself was unable to fully protect his position. It may be that during this internal power struggle, Li Qiaoming was not entirely loyal to Zhang Youxia, not 100% committed, but instead maintained a surface allegiance to Zhang That ambiguity could have been one reason he was previously frozen or sidelined. Another possibility is that the top leadership sought to maintain a kind of balance between factions, removing several figures from Li's side, then removing one from Zhang Youxia's side, in order to preserve a sense of equilibrium and maintain outward harmony at the top. This scenario seems less likely, but it cannot be completely ruled out. So when Li Qiaoming was quietly sidelined last year without a formal announcement, Li Dayu believes it may have been because Zhang Youxia was still protecting him. If Li had already encountered trouble earlier, then the recent rumors claiming that he launched a mutiny and forced his way into Zhongnanhai would almost certainly not be true. Was Wang Xiaohong sold out? Three signs reveal Xi Jinping's predicament. Current affairs commentator Wen Rui pointed to a crucial moment, Xi Jinping's political survival may become clearer in just three days. The key is whether Zhang Youxia is mentioned at the Politburo meeting on the 28th. If his name is still not brought up, then it's not that Xi doesn't want to mention him. It may be that he can't. If even the Politburo remains silent, that would suggest the situation is stuck within the military's internal struggles, rather than already settled. This is the first hard indicator. According to Sound of Hope, at this sensitive juncture, rumors have resurfaced that Wang Xiaohong has been detained. Wang has followed Xi Jinping for more than 20 years and controls the public security apparatus, which is why his name has suddenly been thrust into the spotlight. So is Xi Jinping still secure? Outside observers believe the troubles surrounding Wang Xiaohong may stem from disclosures by Chen Ji, a prominent princeling. Chen is described as a top-level, white-glove, someone who manages assets on behalf of powerful families, particularly the so-called Fujian faction and the Xi family. He is rumored to have ties to Qi Xiaoqiao and to connections within China's security system. Last month, after being extradited from Cambodia back to China, he disappeared from public view. Under U.S. pressure, including asset freezes and legal pursuit, Chen Ji has become one of the biggest vulnerabilities for Xi's faction. He is said to hold hard evidence related to money laundering and overseas asset transfers by top CCP elites. Not only does the United States want to investigate further, but there are likely people within the CCP who would also want to follow these leads. The most suspenseful question in this Wang Xiaohong crisis is this. Is the anti-Xi camp wielding the knife, or is Xi Jinping cutting off his own arm? Political commentator Chen Pocong argues that the person who wants to move against Wang Xiaohong is Xi himself. After using Wang to deal with military leaders, Xi may have grown suspicious of him, particularly because Wang controls the powerful public security system and can influence armed forces. During a recent Lunar New Year event, Wang appeared visibly downcast, even resentful. It is said that Xi is no longer relying on Wang, but instead on Cai Qi and Chen Yuan, the latter reportedly having taken control of the Beijing capital garrison to oversee both military and political forces. Chen Pocong suggests that given the fate of Jiang Yuxia and others, Wang Xiaohong represents a core power center within the police system. If Xi truly tries to act against him, Wang may not simply sit and wait for death. Meanwhile, on February 25th, an insider using the pseudonym Tian Guangyao told the Epoch Times that at a recent party-building leadership meeting, the discussion appeared on the surface to focus on performance standards. But in reality, Cai Qi personally demanded that senior officials openly declare their loyalties. If Xi truly held absolute authority, would he need to push matters in such an awkward and heavy-handed way? Commentator Tang Jingyuan offered a historical comparison. In 1989, when overseas rumors spread that the CCP was divided and Deng Xiaoping had lost power, Deng responded by meeting Beijing's martial law troops at Huai'an Hall and delivering a speech, a clear show of authority. Xi Jinping could do something similar to assert control. There would be no need to allow political rumors to circulate overseas again and again, only to export and then re-import, then back into China. This is the second hard indicator, whether Xi makes a decisive public move to stop the bleeding, such as inspecting loyal forces or meeting with military representatives. The third hard indicator lies with the National People's Congress. Will it continue targeting only peripheral figures, carefully avoiding the core figure of Jiang Yuxia? For now, there's no need to rush to bet on who will ultimately win. Keep these three hard indicators in mind, the Politburo meeting on the 28th, whether Xi takes a decisive action to stabilize the situation, and the next moves by the National People's Congress. Together, they will reveal whether Beijing's political situation is truly deadlocked. Xi Jinping hit with more bad news. While internal tensions continue to simmer, Xi Jinping has now been dealt another blow, this time from overseas. On February 26th, OpenAI released its latest report titled The report reveals that a Chinese state security officer had been using ChatGPT like a work diary, recording numerous acts of transnational repression and harassment. According to the report, this individual repeatedly uploaded progress reports and status updates, asking the AI to edit, polish, or summarize them, many of which contained detailed internal information. One case described a Chinese security officer posing as a U.S. immigration official, warning a dissident living in the United States that his public statements could violate the law and jeopardize his immigration status. In another instance, someone fabricated U.S. court documents in an attempt to shut down a Chinese dissident's social media account. The report states that the scale of the CCP's covert operations is vast, In just one Chinese province alone, more than 300 individuals were reportedly involved, with accounts spanning hundreds of global platforms. They combined AI tools with dozens of tactics, mass-reporting dissident accounts, posting in bulk, forging documents, even impersonating U.S. officials. The targets were not limited to people inside China. They included dissidents around the world, foreign representatives, and even Japan's prime minister. The report notes that in mid-October last year, a Chinese security agent asked ChatGPT to devise a smear campaign against Sanae Takaichi after she criticized the human rights situation in Inner Mongolia. The proposed plan included six action points. Spread and amplify negative remarks about Takaichi. Focus attacks on her stance toward foreign immigrants, including sending forged emails posing as foreigners to petition Japanese political circles. Make rising living costs a key point of criticism, using fake accounts and mobilizing Japanese netizens to apply pressure. Accuse her of holding far-right views. Stir up dissatisfaction over U.S. tariffs to divert attention from China-Japan relations. Promote positive narratives about conditions in Inner Mongolia. There were also instructions to spread false rumors that a dissident had died, complete with fabricated articles and tombstone images for wide circulation. The report indicates that this network posted millions of messages domestically and tens of thousands overseas. The scale, dense resources, and continuous cyber operations suggest an industrialized system, far beyond a simple internet troll army. Ben Nimmo, OpenAI's lead investigator, stated that coordinated, multi-location attacks targeting critics of the Chinese Communist Party Now that these activities have been widely exposed, Xi Jinping's credibility and the extent of the CCP's coercive tactics are coming under increasing global scrutiny. What do you think about these latest developments? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. Thank you for watching, and see you next time.