Chairman of everything

CHINA’S president appears to have killed two eagles with one arrow in bringing down one of the nation’s highest-ranking military men. On June 30th General Xu Caihou was stripped of his Communist-Party membership and handed over to prosecutors on corruption charges. State media said he took money and other loot in exchange for arranging promotions. Until last year, General Xu was one of the two dozen most powerful men in the country.

His fall helps consolidate Xi Jinping’s control over the army and at the same time burnishes his credentials as an anti-corruption crusader. The party announced the expulsion of six more figures this week, including a former vice-minister, a former senior manager at a state-owned oil firm and a former head of a government watchdog. All of them were connected to Zhou Yongkang, until 2012 the head of state security and formerly one of China’s nine most powerful men. In a separate announcement, the party dismissed Wan Qingliang, a rising star who was party boss of Guangzhou, one of China’s largest cities.