CSIS Database of Chinese Military Purges

Topic: Military
Source: China Power Project

The CSIS Database of Chinese Military Purges contains detailed information on 101 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) senior officers who have been purged or potentially purged since 2022. Data is updated through February 20, 2026. Due to limitations in open-source information, the dataset includes only officers at the general/admiral (上将) and lieutenant general/vice admiral (中将) level. This dataset was compiled by the CSIS China Power Project team, with support from Suyash Desai, Feifei Hung, Tao-Hung Chang, and Ryan Liao, as well as Jonathan A. Czin and Allie Matthias of Brookings. Taylor Fravel, Phillip Saunders, and Joel Wuthnow also provided helpful feedback to improve the data. For questions about the data or to flag issues, please contact chinapowercsis@gmail.com.

To explore key findings of the dataset, read our full ChinaPower analysis. You can also read expert commentaries on the broader implications of PLA purges in this CSIS report.

Since 2022, over 100 senior Chinese military officials have been officially purged or gone missing. View

of the 47 PLA leaders who were generals in 2022 or promoted to three-star positions after 2022, 41 of them (or 87 percent) were purged or potentially purged as of February 20, 2026. View

Among 52 key PLA leadership positions examined, only 11 positions (or about 21 percent) are filled as of February 20, 2026. View