Xi Jinping has continued consolidating control over the People’s Liberation Army through extensive purges of senior officers, including the January 2026 removal and later expulsion of Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia and Joint Staff Department Chief Liu Zhenli on grounds of factionalism, disloyalty, and disciplinary violations. These moves, which reduced the CMC to minimal membership and extended into further Navy and other command dismissals by October 2026, followed reports of internal disagreements over Taiwan strategy and have been officially presented as strengthening party authority. No widely confirmed coup attempt has occurred, though unverified rumors of foiled plots have periodically circulated. The resulting leadership vacuum and emphasis on political loyalty over professional dissent shape the low implied probability traders assign to a qualifying coup attempt before the market’s 2027 resolution window.