Liu Yazhou has been described as a "princeling": his father was a senior military officer and his father-in-law was Li Xiannian, one of the Chinese Communist Party's Eight Immortals and president of China in the era of Deng Xiaoping.

His writings "have dazzled as well as upset his readers; supporters praise his boldness and insight, and detractors condemn his alleged militarism and demagoguery.

As a prominent military figure in China, he is unusual for his outspoken views and apparent violation of a number of taboos on political discourse.

According to Ming Pao Daily News, Liu Yazhou is suspected of amassing huge wealth on behalf of foundations and associations and committing a serious corruption case, and may be given a heavy sentence of "death penalty with a two-year reprieve" by the authorities, and it is reported that Liu Yazhou is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison.

[9] The Chinese military also issued a notice in late February 2023 requiring the removal of "Liu Yazhou's harmful information" in March.

Ideals of democracy are not restricted by national borders, or by historical ones," he said in August 2010, in an article in the Hong Kong magazine Phoenix Weekly.

[2] In an alleged internal speech in August 2013, Liu argues that reforms in China are now in "deep water" and that the country can no longer "cross the river by feeling for stones," as Party patriarch Deng Xiaoping put it in the early period of growth of the 1990s.