Recent purges of senior PLA figures, including former Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia and Joint Staff Department Chief Liu Zhenli, anchor trader focus on the "China coup attempt" market. Official announcements cite factionalism, disloyalty, and discipline violations following their January 2026 investigation and later expulsion from the party and military. These moves coincide with broader high-level military turnover ahead of the next Communist Party congress, alongside Xi Jinping’s emphasis on internal security and risk prevention. Rumors of an earlier foiled plot involving arrests or clashes lack official confirmation and are treated skeptically by most reporting. Traders weigh these loyalty-driven reshuffles against historical patterns of elite consolidation, noting scheduled leadership events through late 2026 that could surface further shifts in military or party alignments.