By Chen Jing, Vision Times
The recent downfall of top military general Zhang Youxia has prompted a reassessment of a development long underestimated by outside observers: The overseas leak of trial footage involving former 38th Group Army commander Xu Qinxiān. For years, many believed Beijing’s carefully constructed image of “stability maintenance,” assuming that current President Xi Jinping and Zhang had reached a delicate balance, or even reconciliation, within China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
That assumption now appears gravely mistaken. The emergence of Xu Qinxiān’s long-sealed courtroom footage represents more than a breach of secrecy. It has torn open a fissure in what once seemed an impenetrable political façade, exposing a power struggle that has crossed the threshold from internal bargaining into a zero-sum confrontation.
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A classified leak
Within China’s authoritarian system, the safeguarding of core archival materials is absolute, especially documents related to Xu Qinxiān, then-PLA commander who refused orders to suppress civilians during the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. His trial footage has long been treated as a top-tier sealed secret.
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That such an extensive video could surface abroad is not something a low-level official could accomplish. Its release points unmistakably to authorization from the highest levels of the military.
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For years, analysts speculated that Zhang Youxia — then vice chairman of the Central Military Commission — would maintain a pragmatic equilibrium with Xi for self-preservation. The leak suggests otherwise. It reads as a declaration that Zhang had reached the limits of endurance.
Unlike Xu Qinxiān, who stood alone decades ago, Zhang commanded real forces and institutional influence. The footage functioned as a silent ultimatum: If political loyalty demands injustice, resistance becomes inevitable.
Reframing Xu Qinxiān
Xu Qinxiān occupies a unique place in modern Chinese history: A rare symbol of conscience within the PLA. His refusal to fire on civilians directly contradicts the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) core doctrine that “the Party commands the gun.”
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That is precisely why his legacy has been buried. Reintroducing his story carries explosive implications. Acknowledging Xu’s moral stance undermines the CCP’s claim that suppressing the population was legitimate, and by extension challenges the political legitimacy of Xi’s authority today.
More importantly, the footage sends a message to serving officers: The duty of a soldier is to defend the nation, not to act as a tool of repression. Disobeying unjust orders is not betrayal; it is honor. This reframing lays psychological groundwork for potential future refusal within the ranks should mass repression again be ordered.
From ‘Party army’ to national defense force
Zhang Youxia is widely regarded as an old-school military figure, not a sycophant. Yet decades of party indoctrination blurred the distinction between loyalty to China and loyalty to the CCP. The relentless purges under Xi, which have even targeted decorated commanders, forced a nationwide reckoning.
Zhang could have chosen silent compliance. Instead, he appears to have chosen a different path: releasing Xu Qinxiān’s footage as a conceptual break from the idea of a Party-owned army. It was not merely an act of self-defense, it was a rehearsal for ideological defection, analysts note.
The leak coincides with circulating calls, such as the widely discussed “Open Letter to the Chinese People,” advocating that the military “return to the nation” and cease serving as an instrument of personal rule. Together, these signals suggest that the PLA is no longer monolithic. Quiet dissent, once sealed, is beginning to surface.
To observers attuned to Beijing’s political tremors, the meaning is unmistakable: The center is no longer holding. Analysts say this is no longer a personal contest between Xi Jinping and Zhang Youxia. It reflects a deeper structural fracture, what some experts describe as the regime’s internal unraveling.
Xu Qinxiān’s story was buried because it aligned with moral restraint. Its reemergence suggests that the political conditions suppressing such restraint are weakening.
The leak marks a moment when long-silent actors inside the system chose to speak, without words. It is not merely a disclosure. It is a warning shot. Whether it culminates in open defiance remains uncertain. But one conclusion is clear: The illusion of unity within China’s military has been irrevocably damaged.
Editorial note: Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Vision Times.
