China's Communist Party expels record 33 members at plenum

China's ruling Communist Party expelled a record 33 members from its Central Committee at the fifth plenum of its 20th congress, a gathering that left more than a quarter of the body's seats empty and confirmed the removal of two of the party's most senior figures.

The Guardian reported that 279 full and alternate members attended this week's plenum, against the 376 named when the committee was formed in 2022. That is the largest number of empty chairs at a plenum in modern Chinese history, according to the newspaper, with more than 25 percent of the original cohort absent. It said some of the absences resulted from purges and others were unexplained.

Among the confirmed expulsions were Zhang Youxia, formerly second-in-command to Xi in the military hierarchy, and Ma Xingrui, the former party secretary of Xinjiang.

Xi used the closing session to defend the discipline campaign. According to state news agency Xinhua, cited by the South China Morning Post, he described strict party governance and internal discipline as a "fundamental guarantee" for China's rise and warned against any easing of scrutiny. The Post said Xi was answering scepticism about a campaign that has widened in recent years from lower-level officials to the party's top ranks and the military.

The purges have left the seven-member Central Military Commission, which oversees the People's Liberation Army, with two members: Xi and Zhang Shengmin, the military's anti-corruption chief. Zhang was promoted to the Politburo, the party's highest ruling body, during the plenum and is now its only military member, The Guardian reported.

The Straits Times reported that the party used the meeting to demand loyalty from its members and to promise tighter discipline.

The plenum prepared the ground for the 21st Party Congress, expected in the second half of 2027, at which Xi is expected to take a fourth term as party leader. He is already the longest-serving leader of Communist China since Mao Zedong. The Central Committee and Politburo are due to be refreshed at that congress, though analysts cited by The Guardian said the purges have thinned the pool of candidates for promotion.

Neil Thomas, a senior fellow at the Asia Society, wrote on X that the empty seats underlined the plenum's focus on Xi's vision of strict internal discipline, The Guardian reported.