• Corruption has been plaguing China's military, including senior leadership.
• The issues and purges raise questions about China's military readiness and its ambitions.
• China's military has long struggled with graft, but it's growth and modernization can't be overlooked.

Corruption investigations have led to significant high-level purges in the Chinese military. A US Department of Defense official said that these purges are "just the tip of the iceberg" and that the issues affecting the military could hinder its ambitions, including Taiwan.

The Defense Department released its annual report on China's military last month, assessing that the People's Liberation Army has "experienced a new wave of corruption-related investigations and removals of senior leaders that may have disrupted its progress towards stated 2027 modernization goals."

China's leadership has directed the PLA to be fully ready to execute a potential invasion or blockade of Taiwan as a professional fighting force should Beijing opt to pursue that path.

The PLA has long faced corruption scandals, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping has spent the last decade cracking down as part of a wider campaign to root out corruption and ensure loyalty to the Communist Party. But the latest string of cases has left the Pentagon questioning China's military ambitions and their ability to achieve them in the Pacific.

At an event in mid-December with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Chase said the US has assessed "the anti-corruption campaign — the corruption challenges themselves — and how they could present real obstacles to accomplishing the goals that Xi has set for the PLA for 2027."

"Just the tip of the iceberg"

Over the past year and half, China has sacked at least 15 high-ranking military officers and defense industry executives. A prominent example includes the dismissal of Defense Minister Li Shangfu. China also expelled Li and another defense minister from the ruling party over graft. The suspension of Adm. Miao Hua from his position as the Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission in November 2024, was also significant.

Leaders within the People's Liberation Army's Rocket Force have also been removed.

PLARF's leadership has faced allegations of fraud in the construction of silos for ballistic missiles, and US intelligence has reported on missiles filled with water and intercontinental ballistic missile silos equipped with improperly functioning lids that could derail a missile launch.

At CSIS last month, Assistant Secretary of Defense Ely Ratner said a key takeaway from the corruption crackdown: corruption investigations such as this are typically highly secretive. Beijing has often publicly described the current wave of dismissals as "serious violations of discipline."

"We often don't hear about them until they're done," Ratner said of the Chinese corruption investigations. "And what that should lead us to believe is that what we are seeing now — which already has been substantial, right, 15 senior PLA officials already rounded up — is just the tip of the iceberg."

Chase added that there can be a spiral effect in these kinds of situations, where an investigation may reveal further corruption in a different branch or program. That's broadly been the case in the current wave of allegations.

China's military growth and Taiwan

The PLA has long suffered from corruption issues. Since he took office, Xi's anti-corruption campaign has been seen as a renewed effort to root out problems while also ensuring the PLA is both politically loyal to Chinese Communist Party leadership and prepared for any military directives Xi gives it.

China has pursued massive military buildup and growth over the past decade or so, with its eyes set on Taiwan and challenging the US as a peer adversary, but that's also driven corruption.

"The PLA is modernizing so quickly, and they're spending significant amounts of money to build up their forces," said Brian Hart, a fellow with the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He said that widespread graft is, in many ways, also "a manifestation of the rapid pace of PLA modernization."

A concentration of the PLA purges being in equipment procurements and the defense industrial base supports the argument that the corruption could be tied to how quickly and aggressively the military is attempting to build up its forces and capabilities.

That raises questions of whether the PLA is on track to meet its mandated modernization goals — a concern that likely keeps Xi up at night, Hart said.

"Does that really undermine the PLA's ability to fight and win wars, especially when it comes to Taiwan?" he asked.

The Pentagon said in its recent report that an investigation announced in July 2023 related to weapons procurement programs dating back to 2017 pointed to "significant concerns with the PLA's modernization efforts more broadly."

What does corruption mean for China's military goals?

Despite the corruption, China's military has achieved tremendous military growth across its branches, from procuring advanced aircraft and bolstering its naval forces to doubling the number of missiles that can reach Guam.

Its military exercises in the Western Pacific, specifically around Taiwan, have grown in size and frequency, and it puts pressure on US allies. And there have been other demonstrations of might.

In September 2024, PLARF carried out an intercontinental ballistic missile test in the Pacific for the first time in 40 years, an apparent signal that despite its challenges with corruption, it maintains power and ambition.

Since the US election, China has been flexing its muscles, sending a clear message to the incoming Trump administration.

The ultimate goal, Hart explained, of Xi's anti-corruption campaign has been to ensure the PLA can modernize on the timeline he has implemented. Even with some issues along the way, China's military growth shows that effort has seen its successes.

Despite the Pentagon's observations, it remains unclear if the PLA's corruption problems will impact China's 2027 goals.

• California has banned undervalued and unsolicited property offers in fire-hit areas of Los Angeles.
• Gov. Gavin Newsom's executive order targeted speculators trying to exploit victims of the LA fires.
• The order covers areas like Pacific Palisades and Altadena, which have been devastated by the fires.

California just made it harder for predatory real estate investors to take advantage of victims of the Los Angeles fires.

On Tuesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order temporarily banning unsolicited and undervalued offers for properties in specific Los Angeles County zip codes.

The order will be in place for three months, with the zip codes including areas such as Malibu, Altadena, Pasadena, and Pacific Palisades — some of the areas worst hit by the ongoing fires.

The LA wildfires, which have been raging for more than a week, have burned more than 40,000 acres, damaged over 12,000 structures, including many homes, and killed at least 25 people.

"As families mourn, the last thing they need is greedy speculators taking advantage of their pain," Newsom said in a press release.

The governor described how real estate speculators are exploiting the situation, saying he'd heard firsthand from victims who had "received unsolicited and predatory offers" from speculators offering cash far below the market value.

The executive order prohibits offers below the fair market value as of January 6, 2025 — the day before the fires started.

The press release said that the order was inspired by a similar measure issued by Hawaii Gov. Josh Green in August 2023, designed to protect residents after wildfires devastated much of Lahaina.

Violating the order during a state of emergency is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, six months in prison, or both.

Altadena, a "working-class neighborhood" hit hard by the Eaton fire, was cited as an example where undermarket offers could displace vulnerable residents with long-standing ties to the community.

"We will not allow greedy developers to rip off these working-class communities at a time when they need more support than ever before," Newsom said.

Even in areas like the Palisades, which has some of the most expensive real estate in the country, not all victims were wealthy.

A 22-year-old living in the Palisades, who works multiple jobs and said many in her building were blue-collar workers, told Business Insider about having to evacuate her rental apartment.

Concerns about exploitation in the rental market are also growing, as those who have lost their homes look to the future.

Jason Oppenheim of Netflix's "Selling Sunset" said that greedy landlords have been taking advantage of the fires by price gouging, or illegally hiking rents.

He told Business Insider: "This is a time for people to put aside any opportunities for financial gain. If anything, we should be giving back financially, not trying to be rewarded financially from the situation."

• Boeing delivered 348 commercial aircraft last year, fewer than half as many as rival Airbus.
• It's the sixth year in a row Boeing has lagged behind its European competitor.
• After a troubling year, the planemaker has a plan to turn things around.

Boeing reported last year's delivery figures late Tuesday, and they show the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.

The embattled planemaker delivered 348 commercial aircraft in 2024 — down by just over a third since the year before. It was its lowest figure since the pandemic.

Boeing also delivered fewer than half as many planes as rival Airbus, which last Thursday reported 766 deliveries.

Last year was especially arduous for Boeing as it not only dealt with the fallout from January's Alaska Airlines blowout but also a seven-week strike that crippled production.

However, it was also the sixth year in a row it has lagged behind Airbus.

The bulk of both companies' deliveries consist of short-haul, single-aisle aircraft.

Boeing's 737 Max has become almost synonymous with its recent woes, while Airbus is helping airlines unlock new routes with an extra-long-range version of its A320neo.

The A320neo overtook the 737 Max as the best-selling narrow-body jet following the Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air crashes in 2018 and 2019, in which a combined 346 people died.

After a door plug came off an Alaska Airlines 737 Max in midair last January, the Federal Aviation Administration limited Boeing's production of the type to 38 a month.

However, it has stayed below that as it works to overhaul its safety and quality processes.

Boeing was also behind Airbus for orders last year, receiving 569 compared to the European manufacturer's 826. Although, it does have a smaller backlog to work through, of 5,595 versus 8,658.

On the one hand, backlogs are a sign that both firms have plenty of business — as airlines order planes years in advance. However, it is also a challenge to work through the order book and ensure airlines receive their jets on time.

Several Boeing customers voiced their annoyance with delivery delays last year. The planemaker also announced further delays to the certification of its 777X jet.

The industry has also had to contend with supply-chain constraints, with Airbus scaling back its delivery target.

For Boeing, there is a road map to increase production without compromising quality.

In 2024, it acquired the bulk of Spirit AeroSystems — a key supplier that was formerly part of Boeing before being spun off into its own entity.

Integrating Spirit back into the company should help keep production on track and minimize traveled work, where planes are assembled out of sequence.

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg has also made clear that he wants company leaders on the factory floors, so that workers have more trust in management and their concerns and challenges are better understood.

The latest delivery figures show there is a lot of work ahead for Boeing to better challenge Airbus, let alone reclaim the upper hand in the duopoly. But the new boss has a plan in place.

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