Xi Jinping Continues Purge of Top Chinese Officials: 🧵

The ongoing plight of China’s Central Military Commission (CMC) members is trending again due to the finalization of former Director of the Political Work Department Miao Hua’s removal from office. The new information from Xinhua states that the decision to officially remove Miao came more than half a year after his November 2024 suspension for “serious violations of discipline.”
(photo excerpt via the Chinese MOND statement on his suspension, November 2025)
1/ While the removal of CMC members was once unheard of, Chinese President Xi Jinping has increasingly targeted his political rivals within the powerful governing body and placed their removal against the backdrop of his ongoing anti-corruption initiative. However, it should be noted that other key figures, many of whom posed a political threat to Xi within China’s top military, the CMC, have conveniently been ousted from power under the auspices of corruption charges. @AndrewSErickson and @ChrisHSharman of the Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute expounded on this dynamic below in a CMSI Note immediately after Miao’s suspension last year.
2/

In response to U.S. President Donald J. Trump's actions and statements, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallasust claimed earlier that the EU has been taken advantage of by the U.S. this whole time. On its face, this is a lie.
1/3 Not only has Europe been reticent and/or unwilling to maintain its defense commitments to the frameworks they are party to, but the U.S. has, up until now, willingly filled the massive gaps in Europe's defense framework while simultaneously urging them to rearm. Until now, Europe refused to take such urgings seriously.
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Update: Iran Threat Assessment
(Long Form 🧵)
April 6, 9:17 PM East Coast U.S.

Key Event Rundown:
Date of Event- April 1, 2024

An Israeli strike on the Iranian Consulate in Damascus, Syria that killed senior IRGC commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the al-Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

Iran has promised significant retaliation against Israel for the strikes. Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said: “We consider this aggression to have violated all diplomatic norms and international treaties

Rather significantly, the retaliatory strikes are expected to target the C2 hubs/nodes, bases, and infrastructure used by the IDF inside of Israel. Additionally, the United States voiced concerns surrounding the possibility that retaliation from Iran will be significant and may include strikes on U.S. bases and infrastructure in the region.
1/4 Unconfirmed Relevant Information:

There are numerous videos and photos now emerging from inside Iran showing considerable movement of drone carriers, mobile air-defense systems, and other hardware.
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Update: #Iran #Iraq #Syria

The spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the U.S. strikes a “strategic mistake”.
He also added that the move will “embroil the US government in the region more than before and overshadow the crimes of the Zionist regime in Gaza”.
1/3 Comment:
The spokesperson stopped short of leveling the usual threats of retaliation against U.S. bases and infrastructure in the region.
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“No country represents a broader more comprehensive threat to our ideas, our innovation, our security and ultimately our national security.”
-U.S. Director of the FBI Christopher Ray.

https://twitter.com/defensebulletin/status/1716236044121567284

On Chinese corporate espionage.
“The behavior we are talking about here goes well beyond traditional espionage.”
- Director of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) Mike Burgess

WHNSC spokesperson John Kirby says they knew this was being planned for over a year, but can’t make a positive statement that Iran was involved in “this specific attack”.
More semantics. Let’s break down a few facts on the
Iran-Hamas relationship.
🧵 Fact. U.S. decision makers know Iranian relations with Hamas includes transfer of arms/material, and information. There’s also plenty of evidence confirming that the U.S. was well aware of Iranian attempts to sabotage the rapprochement process.
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1/ Admittedly, I was hoping that if they hadn’t arrived by the commencement of counteroffensive operations, they might make it in time for the eventual exploitive armor spearhead or “main thrust”. In retrospect, when observing the tactical dilemmas that Ukr. Army (UA) armored elements were confronted with, I’m unsure if an extra battalion of MBTs would have made that much of a difference without other combined arms (CO) elements.

Agreements, treaties, and initiatives aren’t effective if member parties engage in actions that combat the framework’s goals.

https://twitter.com/dogma_lies/status/1681732134237552671

Lets strip the morality arguments and identity politics from of both sides. Focus on the already realized/prospective geopolitical and security benefits that could result from a nation’s geo-strategic actions.
Russia’s actions still don’t make sense.

In light of new developments within the CENTCOM AOR (Area Of Responsibility) I thought it might be important to highlight the CENTCOM Coalition of Nations. CENTCOM statement on the Coalition:
“Coalition forces have made important contributions to fight terrorism across the spectrum of operations. Particular contributions include, but are not limited to, providing vital intelligence, personnel, equipment and assets for use on-