By Li Jingyao, Vision Times
As rumors swirl over the fate of Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia, new and unusual signals have emerged from China’s top disciplinary and security organs.
On Jan. 22, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and National Supervisory Commission released a sharply-worded commentary emphasizing the need to “turn the blade inward” and “resolutely eliminate harmful elements.” Around the same time, the political commissar of the Ministry of Public Security’s Special Services Bureau was quietly replaced.
Analysts say these moves may mark the opening salvo of what insiders are calling a “reverse purge,” a potential shift in who is being targeted for elimination within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
A change in tone
On Jan. 22, as online speculation intensified over Zhang Youxia and PLA Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli, the CCDI–National Supervisory Commission website published an article titled “Profoundly Grasp the Earnest Entrustment of the ‘Four Musts.’”
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The article stressed that discipline inspection bodies carry “grave responsibility and a glorious mission” in advancing the Party’s self-revolution and enforcing strict governance. It cited Xi Jinping as saying that cadres must meet standards of being “politically steadfast, professionally capable, disciplined in conduct, and clean in integrity.”
More notably, the commentary declared that inspection organs must “turn the blade inward” and “resolutely remove harmful elements from within.” It also reiterated the need to “firmly uphold the ‘Two Establishes’ and resolutely implement the ‘Two Upholds,’” pledging unwavering loyalty to Xi as the Party’s core.
Former Wen Wei Po Dalian bureau reporter Jiang Weiping said the article effectively “sounds the horn for a reverse purge.” He noted that corruption exists across all CCP factions, but enforcement has always been selective. “The question is never whether corruption exists,” Jiang said, “but who gets investigated and who does not. This article sends an unmistakably unusual signal.”
From ‘profound understanding’ to ‘firm upholding’
Jiang also highlighted a subtle but telling shift in official language. On Jan. 21, Kong Changsheng, Party Secretary of the Henan Provincial CPPCC, chaired an expanded Party leadership meeting stressing the need to “firmly uphold the ‘Two Establishes’ and resolutely implement the ‘Two Upholds.’”
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By comparison, in July 2025, Kong had urged cadres to “profoundly understand the decisive significance of the ‘Two Establishes’ and resolutely implement the ‘Two Upholds.’”
The change, from “profoundly understand” to “firmly uphold,” may appear minor, but Jiang said such wording shifts are closely scrutinized within the CCP. “It’s difficult not to suspect that something significant has happened recently in Zhongnanhai,” he said, adding that the change lends weight to claims that Xi has launched a counteroffensive, and that Zhang Youxia may indeed be in trouble.
Political commissar reassigned
Further raising eyebrows, the Ministry of Public Security’s Special Services Bureau, an elite unit responsible for close protection and sensitive security tasks, has also seen a leadership change. According to Shaanxi state media, on Jan. 18, the Shaanxi Provincial People’s Congress appointed Yu Ping as Director of the Shaanxi Provincial Public Security Department, removing Dai Binbin from the post. The same day, Yu was also appointed chief inspector.
Official records now list Yu as Party Secretary, Director, and Chief Inspector of the Shaanxi Public Security Department, as well as Deputy Secretary of the provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission.
Yu Ping previously served as Political Commissar of the Ministry of Public Security’s Special Services Bureau. Born in October 1969, his public résumé is sparse. Available information shows he previously worked in Heilongjiang’s border defense forces and appeared publicly in May 2024 in his role at the Special Services Bureau.
Yu was the bureau’s second political commissar, succeeding Li Xianfa no later than the first half of 2023, and worked alongside three successive bureau chiefs: Wang Xiaohong, Wang Zhizhong, and Ling Zhifeng. As of publication, no successor has been publicly announced.
Skepticism over Zhang Youxia
Despite mounting speculation, a commentator writing under the pseudonym Wall Insider dismissed claims that Zhang Youxia has been detained as implausible. “The rumors circulating outside the firewall about Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli being arrested are frankly ridiculous,” he said. The rumors hinge on the idea that Xi’s Party authority and Zhang’s military authority are locked in a standoff. But, he argued, such a balance cannot exist inside the CCP.
“There is no such thing as a ‘terror balance’ in CCP politics,” he said. “If Party power and military power collide, the conflict must be resolved immediately. A fragile equilibrium is impossible.”
According to this account, real power has already shifted back to Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, with both Xi Jinping and Zhang Youxia now operating under their oversight. He claimed that since the creation of a Party Central decision-and-coordination mechanism last June, an understanding was reached: Xi would relinquish power and step aside, and past actions would not be pursued.
“‘Xi steps down, Hu Chunhua steps up’ has become an open secret at the Central Committee level,” he said, adding that the leadership is continuing to follow this script in the name of Party unity and stability.
He further claimed that senior military figures Zhang Shengmin and two newly promoted generals are aligned with Hu Jintao, arguing that despite appearances, control of the PLA no longer rests with Xi. “Even CCDI chief Li Xi has switched sides,” he said. “Under those circumstances, what leverage would Xi have to arrest Zhang Youxia?”
Editorial note: Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Vision Times.
