As President Xi Jinping moves to rebuild a military leadership gutted by corruption purges, he's betting that the man who oversaw the ousters can be trusted to replenish the ranks.
Zhang Shengmin, who led a sweeping corruption crackdown that sacked scores of generals in the world's largest standing army, was promoted last week to the Communist Party's elite Politburo. His elevation — the first made outside a congress in three decades — cemented Zhang's authority after he this year became the only official besides Xi left on the powerful Central Military Commission.