Xi Jinping’s ruthless purge of his army high command could impact China’s ability to invade Taiwan. The Chinese leader has ruthlessly taken an axe to his top military officials, as he seeks to stamp out any dissent among the ranks.

Last month, 27 senior People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officers were missing from a key gathering of the Communist Party’s central committee. The absentees accounted for 64% of the committee’s members with a military background. Most of the missing are believed to be under investigation, while some have already been kicked out of the party and sacked from their jobs.

Commanders of China’s navy, infantry and missile forces have been targeted in the sweeping and remorseless political cleansing.

At the same time, the heads of several special departments within the army’s top command organ have mysteriously disappeared from public view.

The brutal purges have raised doubts about the battle readiness of Xi’s Red Army and its ability to invade Taiwan.

“They are trying to keep up appearances, but it is definitely having an effect on the PLA’s frontline operations,” a US defence official told the Financial Times.

They added that those arguing the purges had had no effect were most likely suffering from “an intelligence gap”.

Chinese military activity around Taiwan has dropped off noticeably since May, with far fewer PLA jets crossing the median line in the Taiwan Straits. Similarly, the total monthly flights by PLA jets close to Taiwan has also decreased since July, compared to 2024.

China’s President has seen it as his mission and historical destiny to reunify Taiwan with the mainland.

US intelligence claimed last year that Xi has instructed the PLA to be ready for an operation to annex Taiwan by 2027. A Chinese military analyst also warned that Beijing would not be “delayed indefinitely”.

Wang Yunfei told Hong Kong’s Wen Wei Po, a pro-Beijing state-owned newspaper: “The Communist Party of China made a solemn pledge to the Chinese people and the world that it will realise the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation before the end of the century.

“Any great rejuvenation can only happen with unification, so the deadline for this historical process cannot exceed the middle of this century.”

This appears to be a reference to the date 2049, which will mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China by Mao Zedong.