Unverified reports circulating on social media claim that Hu Zhongming, commander of the Chinese navy, has been detained and his home searched, adding to speculation about a widening investigation inside China’s military leadership.
The allegations surfaced on March 13 when Australia-based political commentator Jiang Wangzheng wrote on the social platform X that Hu had been taken into custody and that investigators had searched his home for several hours. Jiang also claimed a number of current and former military officers had been detained in the same sweep.
The post listed several officials, including Liu Sheng, a former acting head of the Central Military Commission’s Equipment Development Department who preceded former defense minister Li Shangfu. It also named Wang Li, a deputy head of the department; Xin Yi, a deputy commander of the Strategic Support Force; Li Fan, a deputy commander of the Southern Theater Command Air Force; Wang Xiaoping, a deputy head of naval equipment; Liu Yi, a deputy commander of the navy; and Yuan Qiang, head of the Air Force equipment department.
None of the claims have been confirmed by Chinese authorities.
Hu has largely disappeared from public view in early 2025. His last confirmed appearance in Chinese state media came in December 2024, when he attended the opening ceremony of the second Gulf of Guinea Security Situation Seminar in Shanghai and delivered remarks.
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A career spanning several decades
Hu rose through the ranks of the People’s Liberation Army Navy over several decades. Born in 1964 in Qingdao, Shandong province, he previously served as commander of the navy’s Second Submarine Base and held several operational posts within submarine units.
In July 2013 he became commander of the Second Submarine Base. The following year he was appointed assistant chief of staff of the navy. In 2016 he was promoted to deputy chief of naval staff.
His career advancement coincided with the tenure of Admiral Miao Hua, who served as political commissar of the navy from 2014 to 2017. Miao later became director of the Central Military Commission’s Political Work Department, the body responsible for evaluating and promoting senior officers across the armed forces.
During that period Hu continued to advance. In December 2019 he was promoted to deputy commander of the Northern Theater Command and commander of the Northern Theater Command Navy. In December 2021 he became chief of staff of the navy.
On Dec. 25, 2023, Hu was promoted to the rank of full admiral and appointed commander of the Chinese navy.
Miao’s own career collapsed in late 2024. Chinese authorities announced on Nov. 28 that he had been removed from his post and placed under investigation.
Observers note that Hu’s promotions closely overlapped with Miao’s tenure overseeing military personnel affairs.
Hu’s absence from public events since early 2025 has drawn increasing attention.
Notable absences
On July 31, 2025, China’s Ministry of National Defense held a reception in Beijing to mark the anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army. According to Hong Kong media reports, both Hu and the navy’s political commissar Yuan Huazhi were absent from the event.
Hu also did not appear at the Chinese Communist Party’s Fourth Plenum in October 2025.
On Nov. 5, 2025, China’s leader Xi Jinping attended a ceremony in Sanya, Hainan province marking the commissioning of the aircraft carrier Fujian. Hu did not attend the event. Several other senior officers were also absent, including Southern Theater Command commander Wu Yanan, political commissar Wang Wenquan, and the head of the Central Military Commission’s Equipment Development Department.
Earlier speculation about Hu’s status had already appeared online. On June 21, 2025, Yao Cheng, a former People’s Liberation Army Navy lieutenant colonel who later left China, wrote on X that internal naval sources had informed him Hu had been removed from his post. The claim has not been independently verified.
Publicly available records also suggest a similar timeline. A listing of commanders of the People’s Liberation Army Navy shows Hu serving from December 2023 to October 2025, while Vice Admiral Zhang Zheng is listed as acting navy commander beginning in December 2025.
The timing corresponds with Hu’s absence from the October 2025 Fourth Plenum, leading some observers to speculate that he may have already been placed under internal investigation by that point.
Another development involved Hu’s deputy. On Oct. 17, 2025, shortly before the Fourth Plenum, China’s Defense Ministry announced that nine generals had been expelled from the Chinese Communist Party and stripped of their military ranks. Among them were Yuan Huazhi, the navy’s political commissar, as well as Miao Hua, the former head of the Central Military Commission’s Political Work Department.
Yuan Hongbing, an Australia-based legal scholar and longtime critic of the Chinese Communist Party, has also claimed that after Miao was detained he provided information implicating a large number of military officers.
Against that backdrop, the repeated absence of both Yuan Huazhi and Hu Zhongming from major official events has fueled growing speculation that the navy leadership may be involved in the latest round of military investigations.
Chinese authorities have not publicly commented on Hu’s status.
By Li Deyan
