Xi Jinping orders PLA to intensify purge as Washington says no Taiwan invasion on Donald Trump’s watch

The Chinese leader is demanding the country’s armed forces continue to root out corruption following a series of purges that have raised questions about China’s military preparedness.

President Xi Jinping arrives for the second plenary session of the National People's Congress.

Xi Jinping has ordered the People’s Liberation Army to further root out corruption following a series of purges that have raised questions about China’s military preparedness, as the US Treasury Secretary said Washington was confident Beijing would not invade Taiwan while Donald Trump was in office.

The Chinese president, dressed in military green, addressed a group of PLA delegates on Friday in a session during the “Two Sessions”, China’s biggest annual political gathering, which is continuing over the weekend.

Xi told the PLA representatives to “give more importance to supervision” and “investigate deeply into corruption”, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The rolling purge inside the PLA has become a source of embarrassment for Beijing. At least fourteen former military delegates have been toppled because of corruption charges since last year’s “Two Sessions” meeting.

At the closed session, Xi also urged the Chinese military leaders to make better use of “advanced technology” in their procurement, continuing a focus on space, cybersecurity and AI capabilities as Beijing continues to modernise its forces ahead of the PLA’s centenary in 2027.

Beijing this week increased the People’s Liberation Army’s budget by a nominal 7.2 per cent, continuing a decades-long military build-up that has ­rattled many in the region.

The increase takes China’s ­official military spending to 1.784665 trillion yuan ($398bn) – about eight times the amount Australia spends on defence. Analysts believe China’s actual military spending is much higher.

Amid rising tension over the trade tit-for-tat between Washington and Beijing, China’s foreign ministry spokesman this week canvassed going to war with the US, in a fiery answer to a question about America’s new 10 per cent tariffs on imports from China.

“If war is what the US wants – be it a tariff war, a trade war, or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.

The Chinese spokesman walked those comments back later in the week after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said America was “prepared” for war China, while stressing that Washington was not seeking one.

In an interview on Friday, US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent downplayed the chance of a Chinese attack on Taiwan, the contingency that most worries American military planners.

Speaking on CNBC, Bessent said President Trump was “confident that President Xi will not make that move during his presidency”.

Trump has previously said Xi would never attack Taiwan while he was president because the Chinese leader “respects me and he knows I’m f — crazy”.