Two senior Communist Party officials absent at top Chinese political event
March 4, 2026 at 10:36 AM
By Channel News Asia1 views
Zhang Youxia, China’s highest-ranking general, was not among the party’s 23-member politburo at the opening of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
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Zhang Youxia, China’s highest-ranking general, was not among the party’s 23-member politburo at the opening of the Chinese People's Political Consulta Zhang Youxia, China’s highest-ranking general, was not among the party’s 23-member politburo at the opening of the Chinese People's Political Consulta Monitor developments in Two for further updates.
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Zhang Youxia, China’s highest-ranking general, was not among the party’s 23-member politburo at the
Zhang Youxia, China’s highest-ranking general, was not among the party’s 23-member politburo at the opening of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Advertisement East Asia Two senior Communist Party officials absent at top Chinese political event Zhang Youxia, China’s highest-ranking general, was not among the party’s 23-member politburo at the opening of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Delegates applaud as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang arrive for the opening session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on Mar 4, 2026. (Photo: Reuters/Florence Lo) 04 Mar 2026 06:36PM Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST BEIJING: Two senior Chinese officials were absent on Wednesday (Mar 4) from the ranks of China's highest tier of power at the opening of the country's two largest political events of the year, with top Communist Party cadres ensnared in a wave of purges.Zhang Youxia, China's highest-ranking general, was not among the party's 23-member politburo at the opening of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), according to a Reuters witness. Neither was Ma Xingrui, formerly the party's top official in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang.Zhang, also a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), was put under investigation in January. Ma has not been in the public eye since late October.China’s defence ministry announced in January that Zhang had been placed under investigation over suspected "serious violations of discipline and law" - a common euphemism for corruption. Subscribe to our Chief Editor’s Week in Review Our chief editor shares analysis and picks of the week's biggest news every Saturday. This service is not intended for persons residing in the E.U. By clicking subscribe, I agree to receive news updates and promotional material from Mediacorp and Mediacorp’s partners. Loading The 75-year-old war veteran had been one of President Xi Jinping’s longest-serving allies - overseeing top military operations, training and weapons procurement within the People's Liberation Army (PLA).His ties with Xi were said to have run deep, with both their fathers being revolutionary comrades. Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning speaks during the opening session of the CPPCC at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on Mar 4, 2026. (Photo: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov) Zhang was last seen in public at a Dec 22 CMC ceremony, where he conferred the rank of general upon two senior officers. Xi, who is also CMC chairman, was present at the event.Reuters reported in July that Ma had been removed from his post as Xinjiang Party Secretary and would “be appointed to another position”, according to an official announcement.According to a Bloomberg report, Ma allegedly said that he “firmly supported” the decision to remove him.There has been no public announcement since about a new position.China’s top political advisory body convened in Beijing on Wednesday. CPPCC chief Wang Huning addressed the opening session, saying 2025 was a year of “great significance” for China’s path to modernisation.“Despite downward pressure, China’s economy continued to move forward, developing in a new and better direction,” Wang said in his speech.He added that achievements over the past year were “fundamentally attributable to the strong leadership” of the CPPCC and Xi and also pointed out shortcomings in their work, which would be “conscientiously addressed and improved” in future. Related: 'China's solution': Beijing touts Xi's governance plan amid global turmoil while raising concern over Iran Beijing votes out three generals from political advisory body Source: Agencies/lk(ht) Newsletter Week in Review Subscribe to our Chief Editor’s Week in Review Our chief editor shares analysis and picks of the week's biggest news every Saturday. Newsletter Morning Brief Subscribe to CNA’s Morning Brief An automated curation of our top stories to start your day. Sign up for our newsletters Get our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inbox Subscribe here Get the CNA app Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories Download here Get WhatsApp alerts Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app Join here Related Topics China Two Sessions Advertisement Also worth reading Content is loading... Advertisement Expand to read the full story Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST
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