Chinese President Xi Jinping held a dinner event with retired military elders ahead of the Lunar New Year, and Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Shengmin attended with him.
According to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency on the 7th, Xi attended a dinner in Beijing the previous day organized by the Central Military Commission for retired service members and shared last year's achievements of the Communist Party and the military.
The format of the event was the same as in previous years, but there was a clear change in the lineup of people accompanying Xi. At last year's dinner, Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia, Vice Chairman He Weidong, Central Military Commission Member Liu Zhenli, and then–Central Military Commission Member Zhang Shengmin took part side by side, but after their recent ousters, only Vice Chairman Zhang Shengmin accompanied Xi on site.
According to the People's Liberation Army's official newspaper, the PLA Daily, China's Central Military Commission revised the "Provisions on the authority and procedures for approving Party disciplinary sanctions within the military" on the same day and said it will take effect starting on the 1st of next month.
The Central Military Commission stressed that the revision aims to spell out procedures for Party disciplinary measures. Disciplinary measures refer to internal sanctions for violations of Party rules and discipline, and for senior figures they are effectively interpreted as purges.
Some analysts say Xi is using this to block internal unrest stemming from recent military purges and to shore up unity.
The PLA Daily said it will "set out guidelines and principles for implementing disciplinary measures and standardize approval authority," adding that it "thoroughly embodied Xi's thinking on strengthening the military, along with important thinking on Party building and the Party's self-revolution."