Beijing, China - China's anti-corruption probe into top general Zhang Youxia and other senior officials will "remove roadblocks" and strengthen the country's military, state media said Monday.

The defense ministry said last month it was investigating Zhang, the vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), as well as Liu Zhenli, chief of staff of the CMC's joint staff department, which oversees combat planning.

The pair are the latest to fall under a sweeping drive to root out graft at all levels of the Chinese Communist Party and state since President Xi Jinping came to power more than a decade ago.

The ministry did not say why the probe into Zhang and Liu had been opened.

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However, the PLA Daily – the Chinese military's mouthpiece – said they were "corrupt elements" in a front-page editorial published Monday.

The "resolute investigation and punishment" of Zhang and Liu "removes roadblocks" and "squeezes out the water diluting combat effectiveness," it said.

Proponents say China's corruption purge promotes clean governance, but others say it also serves as a tool for Xi to oust political rivals.

Dylan Loh, an associate professor at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, said it was "somewhat telling" and unusual that PLA Daily editorials had written about Zhang and Liu more than once.

"The reference to 'combat effectiveness' is an admission that corruption at the highest levels has affected combat readiness and also indicates a resolve by Xi to root them (corrupt officials) out however rough it may be," he told AFP.

The editorial also said that all soldiers must "unify their thoughts and actions" with the major decisions and deployments of the CMC and Xi.

That means "there was some side-stepping and resistance to Xi's personal command and directives," Loh added.

A Pentagon assessment has said Xi was eyeing 2027 to attempt to seize self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own.

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Beijing has refused to rule out using force to annex the island but says it hopes for a peaceful unification.

Monday's editorial also reinforces anti-corruption measures as a centerpiece of China's military, said Lim Tai Wei, a professor and East Asia expert at Japan's Soka University.

"It links Zhang and Liu's investigations as part of the efforts to professionalize the military and make it leaner to be effective to win wars," Lim told AFP.

In October, China announced it had launched corruption investigations into nine military officials.

As part of those probes, the defense ministry expelled two top generals from the military, He Weidong, the former second-ranked CMC vice chairman, and Miao Hua, the former head of the military's political work department.