Power, Paranoia, and the People's Liberation Army
War on the Rocks
War on the Rocks
4.6 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 19 February 2026
⏱️ 59 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
China's top military leadership has been shaken by a new round of purges at the highest level, raising urgent questions about loyalty, corruption, and combat readiness. What do these removals, and especially the purge of Zhang Youxia, signal about Xi Jinping's grip on power, the health of the People's Liberation Army, and Beijing's appetite for risk abroad? We are joined by four seasoned analysts of China and its military, three of whom worked at the Central Intelligence Agency, to parse these questions and more.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You are listening to the War on the Rocks podcast on Strategy, Defense, and Foreign Affairs. |
| 0:15.3 | My name is Ryan Evans. I'm the founder of War on the Rocks. We're going to talk about China |
| 0:19.2 | after these pretty shocking purges at the |
| 0:21.7 | highest level of the People's Liberation Army. But first, this episode is brought to you by |
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| 0:31.5 | and tech stacks on plans. Go from hours to minutes in One Brief. In the middle of this episode, |
| 0:37.0 | I have a short chat with Grant Demery about the future of |
| 0:39.2 | One Brief. He's its founder and CEO, after its recent $200 million Series D funding round |
| 0:44.5 | and its acquisition of the War Gaming and Simulations Company Battle Road. |
| 0:48.9 | Learn more about One Brief at war on the rocks.com slash one brief. That's O'N-E-B-R-I-E-F. |
| 0:55.5 | Warren-the-Rox.com slash one brief. Now, who are my guests for this fascinating conversation |
| 1:00.5 | about this most consequential issue for world security? I have Dennis Wilder, a veteran of the CIA. |
| 1:07.0 | Dennis led analysis of China at the CIA. He also was detailed to the National Security |
| 1:10.8 | Council staff and later became the CIA's deputy associate director. He's currently at Georgetown |
| 1:15.9 | University in Texas A&M. I also have John Zinn at the Brookings Institution's China Center. |
| 1:21.1 | John is also a veteran of the CIA and of the National Security Council staff. And I have Peter |
| 1:26.0 | Mattis. Shockingly, also formerly of the |
| 1:28.6 | CIA. He also worked as Senator Rubio's staff director at the Congressional Executive Commission on |
| 1:33.9 | China. He's now president of the Jamestown Foundation. And finally, have Joel Woff now, |
| 1:38.6 | not formerly of the CIA, but currently of the Institute for National Strategic Studies |
| 1:43.1 | at the National Defense University. Please note Joel's views are his own. They do not represent those of the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. |
| 1:44.9 | Please note Joel's views are his own. |
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