Like sands through the hourglass,
so is this episode of China Uncensored.
Hi, welcome to China Uncensored,
I’m your host Chris Chappell.
As a professional China watcher person,
I like to use the three C's
when describing the People's Republic.
Yes, it's complicated, confusing, and contradictory.
For example,
if you've been paying attention to Western media reports on China,
you've seen headlines like this.
The Communist Party is locked in an
unprecedented internal power struggle.
Ok, that seems pretty clear.
But wait.
You've also seen headlines like this,
about how Xi Jinping is a tyrannical dictator.
So...Xi is an absolute dictator with total control...
in a system fracturing because of non-stop power struggles?
Complicated, confusing, and contradictory.
Check!
Western media has consistently focused on Xi Jinping
being the source of everything bad happening in China.
Yes, when Xi came to power in 2012,
some people had high hopes he’d be a reformer.
But under his rule,
China seems to have become worse...
And worse...
And worse.
Even though Xi has repeatedly said
“China is a country ruled by law.”
And Party members must
“abide by the country’s constitution and laws.”
Riiiight.
I mean is this guy a huge hypocrite?
Or is he just having crazy mood swings?
Well, there could be another explanation.
You see, getting to the top of the Communist Party,
or rather, surviving long enough to get to the top
of the Communist Party,
requires careful planning and maneuvering.
It's full of scheming, deceptions, backstabbing, revenge,
mysterious disappearances, mysterious reappearances,
and lots and lots of murder.
What's that, Shelley?
Yeah, I guess it is kind of like a soap opera.
What would it be called?
The Old and the Restless?
All My Comrades?
General Hostility?
General Hostility.
I actually kind of like that one.
Let's go with that.
Previously on General Hostility,
Scheming!
Deceptions!
Backstabbing!
Revenge!
Mysterious disappearances!
Mysterious reappearances!
And lots and lots of murder!
I think that pretty much brings us up to speed
on General Hostility.
And on today’s episode,
I think Xi Jinping has amnesia!
Xi seems to be acting...erratically.
He abolishes the labor camp system,
only to have black jails spring up in their place.
He emphasizes judicial transparency and independence,
and then arrests human rights lawyers.
He talks about getting rid of nuclear weapons,
and then Chinese media reports that China
parked nuclear missiles near Russia's border.
What is going on?
Gasp!
It wasn’t amnesia after all!
It's was Xi Jinping's evil twin separated at birth,
Xi Pinjing!
So that's who's been undermining Xi at every turn!
Or, is it?
It turns out that wasn’t Xi’s evil twin!
That’s a mask hiding the real evil criminal mastermind,
Stefano DiMera!
Uh, wait, wrong show.
I mean, evil criminal mastermind
and former Communist Party leader,
Jiang Zemin!
If you’ve been watching General Hostility since the beginning,
you know former leader Jiang Zemin
established a massive Orwellian security system
that gave him and his cronies total control over China.
Then Xi Jinping comes along
and tries to take control himself.
And he uses what he calls an anti-corruption campaign
to purge Jiang’s allies.
But they’re fighting back.
Even as head of the Communist Party,
Xi Jinping doesn’t have absolute power
to do whatever he wants.
Xi Jinping still must answer
to the Politburo Standing Committee,
which includes these three guys,
who are big in the Jiang Zemin faction.
And they’re trying to stop Xi from becoming too powerful.
So are all the bad things you hear about in the media
really Xi’s fault?
Well, he has said some things that make him seem like a dictator.
Like speaking out against Western Values.
Saying universities should be Communist Party strongholds.
And religious groups must obey the leadership of the Party.
But he’s also said things that make him look like a reformer.
Like China must learn from western economics and political science.
And pushing for judicial independence and transparency,
And said that for rule of law to be established in China,
“power must be exercised in accordance with the constitution.”
Granted the constitution’s preamble makes it clear things will
always be “under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.”
Plus that whole abolishing labor camps thing.
Labor camps where a huge part of the system of control
established by Jiang Zemin.
And demolishing those was a big win for Xi.
So are all the bad things really the doings of Xi’s rivals
to make him look bad?
Well, that also is probably not entirely the case.
But this is why reading Western media reports about China
can be so confusing.
You could say that the media are also getting
played in this power struggle.
Come of them can see that there's a struggle going on,
but usually their reports make it seem like
everything going on in China is because Xi Jinping
wants it that way—
when it's often actually the opposite.
And then the negative media reporting on Xi Jinping
becomes part of the power struggle itself.
Because when Xi Jinping looks bad,
it's a win for his enemies.
So what would Xi do if he was in complete control?
It's hard to know.
Meaningful reform is pretty much impossible
from within the Chinese Communist Party right now.
Since if Xi tries to change things,
Jiang's faction will try to undermine him.
They don't really want things to change,
since that would expose what they've done in the past.
So to move forward,
Xi Jinping will need to purge these three guys
on the Politburo Standing Committee tied to Jiang.
And he’ll try to do it as soon a possible
so he can fill the slots with his own people.
And of course one day,
Xi Jinping will go after the big baddie himself,
Jiang Zemin.
So is Xi a reformer, or a dictator?
Find out, on the next several...
hundred episodes of General Hostility.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
Thanks for watching China Uncensored.
See you next time.