China's Communist Party Expels 33 Senior Officials as Xi Purge Continues; Liu Yandong Dies

China's Communist Party said it expelled 33 officials from its senior ranks and promoted the former head of the military's anti-corruption body to the Politburo, following a Central Committee meeting this week. A communiqué issued Thursday also announced that more high-ranking military officers and defense-industry figures are under investigation for corruption. It was the fifth plenum since the 20th Party Congress in 2022. Of the 376 leaders named then, only 279 were present when the plenum opened Sunday. Earlier purges removed several top generals, including Gen. Zhang Youxia, and left the Central Military Commission with five of its seven seats empty. The crackdown has run for more than a decade, and the next Party Congress, in fall 2027, is expected to confirm Xi Jinping for another five-year term. Separately, Liu Yandong, a former vice premier and one of six women to serve on the Politburo, died at 80.

Breitbart, on the right, leads with a "another high-ranking military purge," stressing generals, the emptied military commission, the attendance gap, and comparisons to Mao. It calls Xi a dictator and notes he will pass the term threshold Mao set. The New York Times, on the left, offers none of this in its excerpt. Its headline and excerpt are an obituary of Liu Yandong, stressing that she was a rare woman in the elite yet was excluded from the top ranks. The two share only a focus on China's party elite, not the facts reported. Semafor, the independent outlet, differs by adding analyst views and a Wall Street Journal characterization of the purges as a "ceaseless wave" meant to keep officials loyal. It also gives the 33 expulsions and the Politburo promotion, and ties them to Xi's expected confirmation next year.