A secret meeting of top Party Officials
Hints at political infighting at the highest levels in China
Will Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s ambitions be foiled?
Welcome to China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
Well my friends, we are nearing the season finale of everyone’s favorite communist
soap opera: General Hostility.
At stake is the rise or fall of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and possibly even the Chinese
Communist Party itself.
So buckle up, it’s time for a quick recap.
Previously on General Hostility…
For more than a decade, China was held in the iron grip of a political faction tied
to former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin.
But against all odds, a rival rose to the top—Xi Jinping.
After a botched coup staged by Jiang’s top men,
Xi Jinping began a life or death power struggle against Jiang and his cronies.
In just 10 years, Xi managed to purge 5 million officials,
under the guise of an anti-corruption campaign.
He purged the ones who tried to take him down.
But Xi Jinping is no hero.
He’s a brutal ruler trying to seize power for life.
And he’ll have his chance next month.
But with unrelenting calamities facing China, will Xi’s rivals manage to take him down
first?
What a show.
Xi Jinping wants to stay in power as the head of the Chinese Communist Party.
If he’s chosen for a third term as chairman, it will essentially mean he’s in charge
forever—a sort of president-for-life.
Not a dictator.
A presitator.
And he’ll have his chance at the next major meeting of the Communist Party—the 18th
Party Congress.
These meetings happen every five years.
They’ve just announced when the next meeting will be.
Next month, on October 16.
This is it.
The last chance for Xi’s rivals in the Jiang Zemin faction to take him down before he ascends
to new levels of dictatorship.
And we may already have a good sense of how that meeting is going to go down—thanks
to a recent Communist Party beach vacation!
I’ll tell you more right after this quick commercial break.
Welcome back.
Being a Communist official is tough.
What with all the political intrigue, backstabbing, and soul selling.
I mean, remember Hu Jintao, the Communist leader Jiang Zemin basically stole all power
from?
They called him wood face.
For obvious reasons.
Here’s what he used to look like.
That proves to me that humans do indeed have a soul, and they can lose it.
So as I said, it’s tough being a Communist official.
That’s why every year, they have a vacation at the fabulous beach resort of Beidaihe.
But instead of relaxing, it's become a major informal meeting with even more political
intrigue, backstabbing, and soul selling.
It’s tough being a Communist official.
“[Beidaihe is] where the party’s most senior leaders and retired elders make some
of their most consequential decisions.”
Especially right before the upcoming Party Congress.
“Everything about the gathering is kept secret.
The dates it occurs—and even its very existence—are never confirmed by state-run media.
Leaders simply disappear for two weeks.”
But sadly, they keep coming back.
Because of its secretive nature, Beidaihe always leads to a lot of speculation.
Did Xi Jinping survive it?
Is he still in a strong position ahead of the Party Congress?
Or did his rivals take him down a peg?
China has been beset by loads of problems.
Zero Covid policies have left people on edge.
A debt crisis looms on the horizon.
And internationally, global support for Taiwan has been growing about as fast as suspicion
of the Communist Party.
Has this left Xi weakened?
Well, there are several things we can look at.
State-run media is an excellent source of information if you know what to look for.
Obviously not specific facts.
They lie all the time.
But since Beidaihe, state-run media have continued to “prominently promote Xi’s political
theory, policies, speeches, accomplishments, and paramount position in the Party”.
Like this piece in Party mouthpiece Xinhua, about publishing a speech from Xi Jinping
calling on the Party to completely, accurately, and fully implement Xi’s new development
concept.
Another state-run media, People’s Daily ran a bunch of front page articles about Xi’s
achievements.
China’s Premier Li Keqiang gave a major speech to top level provincial leaders praising
Xi Jinping Thought and emphasizing “Comrade Xi Jinping at the core” of the Party.
(source)
If Xi’s position had been weakened ahead of the Party Congress, we probably wouldn’t
be seeing this.
Another thing to notice is that Xi Jinping is making plans to travel abroad.
If Xi were scrambling to cement his position ahead of the Party Congress, he absolutely
would not be leaving the country.
Then there’s the latest concrete development in Xi’s purge of the Jiang Zemin faction.
I’ve told you before about Xiao Jianhua, who looks like he’s on his way to a DEVO
audition.
Xiao is also the money launderer for the Jiang Zemin faction.
I love how all the characters in General Hostility are so visually distinct.
Jiang Zemin looks like a toad.
Zhou Yongkang looks like a Thwomp.
.
And Hu Jintao looks like a piece of wood.
Anyway, Xiao Jianhua disappeared five years ago after being abducted by Chinese authorities.
Well, he’s been sentenced to 13 years in jail and his company has been fined 8 billion
dollars.
The sentencing happened shortly after the Beidaihe meeting.
Now this was actually a lenient punishment.
“The Shanghai court noted that Xiao’s punishment was ‘mitigated’ due to his
‘commendable actions’ in having ‘surrendered, admitted guilt, and accepted punishment.’”
That suggests that: One, he probably won’t serve his full term.
And two, he probably gave up some valuable dirt on other members of the Jiang faction.
So it seems like Xi is playing a pretty strong hand ahead of the Party Congress in October.
But does that mean Xi is guaranteed another term in power?
Well, not necessarily.
As I’ve mentioned in recent episodes, China is facing some serious economic problems.
You should check out this recent episode about China’s real estate crisis.
I’ll put a link below.
And cities are still being shut because of the Zero Covid policy.
All of that could be fuel for his rivals to take him down.
Then there’s another possibility.
Xi gets his third term, so from the Party’s perspective he’s in charge for life.
But on the ground, the Chinese people decide they’ve had enough.
Let’s not forget what happened to Romanian communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
He thought things were going fine for him until one day during a speech, the crowd started
shouting at him.
He had to flee.
Four days later, he and his wife were executed.
Ultimately the Chinese Communist Party is headed to collapse.
Maybe not today.
Maybe not tomorrow.
But someday, and for the rest of history.
And Xi Jinping will ultimately be faced with the choice of whether to accept the flow of
history, or go down with the Party.
It’s not easy making China Uncensored.
YouTube frequently demonetizes us, buries episodes, or secretly unsubscribes people.
Most of our budget to keep the lights on comes from direct support from viewers like you
on crowdfunding site on Patreon or our exclusive social media community on Locals.
So to thank them, I answer a question.
Today’s question comes from To Fu-King Good.
“What if Taiwan bans chips exports to China?
With all the chip shortages around the world, I think Taiwan can make up for the lost CCP
chip revenue elsewhere.”
Well, that’s a fu-king good question.
These chips, semiconductors, are critical components to all sorts of modern tech, especially
ones with military applications.
Now Taiwan is the leading manufacturer of semiconductors so as you say, that's a powerful
thing.
Unfortunately, as I mentioned in this recent episode the US Commerce Department is making
it very easy for American companies to sell the Chinese Communist Party everything it
needs to take over the world.
For instance, while there are restrictions on semiconductors, American companies can
freely sell China semiconductor-equipment manufacturing tools.
Those can be used to make semiconductors, which can then be used for everything from
missiles to stealth jets.
Sales to China of those manufacturing tools have more than doubled since 2017.
So don’t worry, corporate greed and stupidity will always find a way.
Thanks for your question and your support, too fu-king good.
And thank you for watching.
If you want to join us in the fight against the Chinese Communist Party, join the China
Uncensored 50 Cent Army, by contributing on Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored
Or Chinauncensored.locals.com
Even a dollar an episode can make a huge difference.
Once again I’m Chris Chappell, see you next time.