India, Jan. 24 -- The Communist Party of China has just taken an almost unheard of step of launching investigations against two of the PLA's highest-ranking uniformed officials and the investigations signal a probable rearranging at the very top of the People's Liberation Army.

Zhang Youxia is no ordinary official, as the first vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission and he stands as the second-highest figure in China's armed forces, right after Xi Jinping. At 75, he's among the elder statesmen still serving actively, kept on beyond the usual retirement limit. Alongside him is Liu Zhenli, 61, who leads joint operations and combat readiness as the head of the Joint Staff Department of the CMC.

Zhang is an accomplished Chinese mi...