Chinese Dictator Cleaning House

 According to Newsweek, "Corruption Scandal in Xi's China Leads to Dozens of Arrests." From the lede:

    Scores of officials have been snagged in Chinese leader Xi Jinping's campaign to cleanse vulnerable sections of the military of corruption, a China-focused consulting firm says.

    The ongoing reshuffling "will have extensive ramifications for the chain of command, as well as the combat readiness/ability to function normally of critical [People's Liberation Army] infrastructure," Canada-based Cercius Group said.

    Over the summer, Xi suddenly replaced top generals in the PLA Rocket Force, which oversees China's nuclear and conventional arsenals. Li Shangfu and Qin Gang, who were then China's defense minister and its top diplomat, disappeared within weeks of them, just months after being appointed to office.

The article adds:

    The investigation has two targets: political and financial corruption, the firm told Newsweek.

    The goal of investigations in the first category is to ensure "everyone dances to Xi's tune when it comes to a potential Taiwan campaign," Cercius said. Xi also seeks to oust potentially disloyal PLA officials who are "forming cliques."

Even the second category--financial corruption--is less about corruption (which is the norm in any communist or socialist government) but about military readiness. That is, Xi doesn't want to have what happened to Russia in its invasion of Ukraine--inoperable vehicles and missing equipment or supplies--happening to China. (Remember that Russia's initial invasion was hampered because their vehicle tires were cheap Chinese products that failed). Or as the article relates:

    However, the brand of corruption in PLA organs responsible for procuring and developing equipment goes beyond embezzlement and kickbacks from state-owned enterprises, Cercius said.

    Critically, it affects China's ability to wage war—because corruption that results in subpar quality control of military equipment chips away at combat readiness.

    Xi's "best-case scenario" would be transferring "low-level or potentially defective" equipment to other developing countries and resetting production under more stable conditions after the dust from the reshuffle has settled, the consulting firm said.

Awesome. Instead of just ditching the defective equipment they will sell them to some unsuspecting sucker. Russia, perhaps?