The CCP’s Revival of Cultural Revolution Terminology Signals Deepening Party Division and Xi’s Isolation

The revival of a Cultural Revolution era term may signal Xi Jinping’s targeting of senior CCP members, said an expert to NTD’s ‘Pinnacle View’ program.

Standing Committee member Cai Qi is seen at a press event with members of the new Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China and Chinese and Foreign journalists at The Great Hall of People in Beijing on Oct. 23, 2022. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Recently, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Central Party School published an article to once again call for vigilance against the so-called “political swindlers” within the Party. The CCP’s revival of such a Cultural Revolution term comes amid China’s economic downturn.

On NTD’s Chinese-language program “Pinnacle View,” a group of panelists discussed the context and meaning behind the CCP’s latest hysteria. NTD is an independent Chinese television network, based in the United States.

The Past and Present of ‘Political Swindler’

Guo Jun, editor-in-chief of the Hong Kong edition of The Epoch Times, explained on the show that “political swindler” is a term from the CCP’s Cultural Revolution era between 1966 and 1976. During that time, the CCP used such terms to label individuals within the Party as “disloyal” or “counter-revolutionaries.”