PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 21st, 2026: Xi Jinping Purges China’s Military & Pakistan Strikes Afghanistan

It's Monday, the 21st of September. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, China's military purge is reaching the very top, with Xi Jinping removing two of the country's most powerful generals. I'll have the details. Later in the show, Pakistan carries out new airstrikes inside Afghanistan, killing dozens of suspected militants, as the Taliban warns that there will be a response. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. Xi Jinping has spent more than a decade trying to turn China's military into a force capable of fighting and, of course, winning a modern war. But as Beijing races to expand its military power, Xi is also tearing apart the senior command structure that he built to lead it. Now, China today formally expelled two of the most powerful generals in the People's Liberation Army, the PLA. That would be Zhang Youxia and Liu Jianli. Now, Zhang was the senior vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, the highest ranking uniformed officer in the country, and until recently, second only to Xi Jinping himself in the military hierarchy. Liu headed the PLA's joint staff department. He was also the vice chairman of the Chinese Central Military Commission, the Chinese Central Military Commission. Now, that puts him at the center of operational planning, training, and coordination between China's different military branches. Both men had already been under investigation, but today, Beijing made their downfall official, expelling them from the Communist Party and the military and referring their cases to military prosecutors. And the accusations go well beyond ordinary corruption. Chinese authorities accused the two generals of taking enormous sums of money, abusing their officials, and helping others win promotions. But Beijing also says they formed political cliques and factions and were disloyal and dishonest to the Communist Party, the CCP. Now, there's no public evidence that either man was plotting against Xi Jinping, but the language is striking because this is no longer simply about officers taking bribes or stealing from military procurement accounts. Beijing itself is saying there was a political problem inside the highest levels of China's military command. Beijing is also saying that the CCP is a political problem inside the command. And Zhang's fall is especially remarkable. For years, he was viewed as one of Xi Jinping's closest military allies. Their families reportedly knew each other going back generations, and Xi kept Zhang in a senior position well beyond the age when many Chinese officials normally retire. He was also one of the PLA's few remaining senior officers with actual combat experience, having served during China's war with Vietnam. Liu also had battlefield experience, and now both are gone. But to understand the scale of what's happening, you do have to zoom out a bit. When Xi assembled the current Central Military Commission back in 2022, it had seven members, including Xi himself. Five of those seven have now been purged. And the result is extraordinary. Xi Jinping has effectively dismantled much of the senior military leadership team that he personally selected just four years ago. And the purge doesn't stop there. Researchers at the Center for Strategic and International Studies have tracked more than 100 senior PLA officers who have either been removed or appear to have been caught up in the campaign since 2022. The disruption has reached China's rocket force, weapons procurement system, theater commands, political leadership, and the Joint Staff Department. The purge is essentially reaching into the institutions that Beijing would have to rely on to plan, supply, and command a major war. This brings us to the point that Washington, D.C., is watching very closely. Xi has repeatedly ordered the PLA to improve its ability to fight complex joint operations, with the year 2027 serving as an important military modernization milestone. That date is often misunderstood. It's not an announced deadline for China to invade Taiwan, but Beijing does want the PLA to be much more capable by then. The problem is that Xi is now removing many of the senior officers responsible for getting the military there. Outside analysts say these leadership gaps could create real short-term problems for readiness, morale, and coordination. And those problems would become especially important in any operation against Taiwan. An invasion, or even a major blockade, would require enormous coordination between China's Navy, Air Force, Missile Forces, Logistics Networks, and Theater Commands. China would have to move troops, ships, aircraft, and supplies on a massive scale while coordinating strikes and communications across multiple military branches. And that's exactly the kind of operation where experienced leadership matters. None of this, of course, means that China has suddenly lost the ability to threaten Taiwan. Its military buildup continues. Its ships, aircraft, and missile forces are still expanding. And Xi may ultimately believe that removing corrupt or politically unreliable commanders will make the PLA stronger. Well, or more loyal to Xi, depending on his real motivation for the purge. But there's clearly a trade-off. The more officers that Xi removes, the more disruption he creates inside the command structure he expects to fight a future war. And there's another question here that may be just as important. Who is left to tell Xi Jinping something that he does not want to hear? Zhang was not just a senior general. He was one of the most experienced military voices around Xi. If senior officers believe that falling out of favor, can end their careers, or worse, there's a risk that the information, of course, reaching the top becomes increasingly filtered. All right, coming up next, Pakistan launches airstrikes inside Afghanistan, claiming 28 militants killed as Kabul vows a response, and tensions between the two countries continue to escalate. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here with a pro tip for feeling your best. Now, let me ask you a question. Have you ever finished breakfast or lunch or dinner, but you don't feel like you're going to be able to eat? You then find yourself reaching for a snack maybe an hour later. That's right. Cravings can take over even when you're trying to eat healthy. And that's why Pendulum Metabolic Daily was designed. Now, you've probably seen all the news about GLP-1s, right? Here's the thing. 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When I last talked to you about the terrorist attack in Kohat, Pakistan on Friday, I mentioned the story could quickly move beyond Pakistan if Islamabad concluded that the attackers were connected to the Pakistani Taliban or allied militants operating from sanctuaries inside Afghanistan. Well, less than three days later, Pakistan did just that. The strikes hit Afghanistan's Kunar and Paktika provinces at around 3 a.m. Pakistan says the airstrikes followed a planned intelligence-driven ground operation in the country's northwest and targeted safe havens used by the groups behind recent attacks on Pakistani forces. Across the border, however, Afghan officials were describing a very different outcome. They say one of the bombs struck a family home, killing a man, a woman, and a girl, while wounding four of their relatives. The United Nations has since confirmed those civilian deaths. Other strikes at Paktika, province where Afghan officials say a shop in unoccupied house were destroyed without causing additional casualties. To understand where we are now, let's return to Friday's assault in the northwestern Pakistani city of Kohat. A suicide bomber struck a mosque inside a police compound there. Eight gunmen then stormed government offices and opened fire, setting off a battle that lasted roughly 20 hours. By the time Pakistani forces regained control, at least 21 people had been killed, most of them police officers, and more than 100 others were wounded. The violence did not end there. Another six Pakistani security personnel, including two army officers, were killed Sunday during a shootout with militants in the nearby city of Hangu. The attack's game as militant violence against Pakistan's police and military has surged, particularly across the country's northwest. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for either attack, although suspicion has fallen on the Pakistani Taliban, formerly known as the Taliban. The TTP is separate from the Afghan Taliban that returned to power in 2021, although the two groups are closely allied. Pakistan accuses Kabul of sheltering TTP leaders and allowing militants to organize attacks from Afghan territory. The Taliban government, well, they deny that. That dispute has now become much more than an exchange of accusations. Pakistan blamed the attack on militants based inside Afghanistan. And warned Saturday that it could strike them there. Pakistan does not view this terrorist violence simply as an internal security problem. It believes militants are attacking its forces and then finding sanctuary across a border that the Afghan government either cannot or will not secure. The Afghan government views Pakistan's airstrikes as violations of Afghan sovereignty. A Taliban government spokesman condemned the airstrikes, accused Pakistan of trying to distract from its own security forces. And vowed that Afghanistan would deliver what he called a, quote, fitting response. The UN says cross-border violence between the two countries has caused more than 1,100 civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan so far this year. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Monday, the 21st of September. Now, if you have any questions or comments, and I hope you do, just reach out to me at pdbatthefirsttv.com. And to listen to the show ad-free, you know, you can do that. It's very simple. Just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. Hey, Mike Baker here with an important health tip. Now, look, summer is over, right? I guess that's the unfortunate truth of all. And daily schedules are getting crazier. 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