Chinese Leader Xi Faces a Power Struggle

Chinese Communist Party officials applaud as leader Xi Jinping delivers his speech commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Chinese army entering North Korea, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Commentary

We know that the CCP infiltrated the United States a long time ago.

After Xi Jinping took power in China, he made the CCP strategy of global hegemony public; but because of his overconfidence, the tactic has encountered a series of setbacks. Near the end of 2019, the Chinese regime concealed the CCP virus outbreak in Wuhan and played the blame game, causing its isolation in the international community. Xi also tried to attack from all sides, which led to the U.S.-China decoupling.

Now, Xi’s authority within the Party is at risk. He has continued a hard defense strategy to cover up his foreign strategy errors. This kind of nationalist incitement is losing favor within the CCP.

The CCP’s top officials have been trying their best to cover up internal struggles. However, the CCP was at a loss when the database of 1.95 million Party members was recently leaked. On Dec. 16, 2020, an article published in state media, titled “The Sickness of Worshiping and Kneeling to the USA Got to Go,” revealed different voices within the CCP. A new round of infighting is emerging.

Xinhua Article

The article, published on state media Xinhua, was attributed to Xin Shiping. Xin Shiping is not an actual person, but a pseudonym that the Xi leadership uses to transmit information.

The article, of course, was completely aimed at the differing voices within the Communist Party.

Xi was forced to retreat after a series of sanctions and tough actions against Chinese companies by the Trump administration. Yet, he still refused to admit that he misjudged the situation. Instead, he took a stance of tough resistance that could trigger a strong backlash within the CCP.

The CCP’s Politburo and Politburo Standing Committee recently held successive meetings, but state media reports did not mention any discussions about the relationship between the United States and China. This topic likely generated fierce internal disputes without consensus, so it was impossible to include in a news report. It is estimated that some high-level CCP members have put forward a proposal to ease tensions with the United States—in other words, to abandon confrontation and openly, proactively make a submissive gesture in order to restore U.S.-China relations. This proposed strategy actually questions Xi’s failed strategy. Naturally, Xi was forced to speak out using the state-run media, Xinhua.

The article claimed, “For some time, some people have spread various theories of worshiping and kneeling to the United States: either admiring American ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom,’ or touting the status quo of human rights in the United States, or exaggerating the ‘restorative capabilities’ of the U.S. system. What’s more, they fantasize about and admire America’s capabilities to fight the pandemic.”

Such remarks couldn’t be fabricated by Xi’s secretary, a particular small group of people, or individuals. In fact, people who say this can only be top officials in the Politburo or members of the Politburo Standing Committee, and more than just one or two. The debate would not have been some sort of private communication, but public discourse at the political meetings. Otherwise, Party media would not have made such an argument public.

The article continued to criticize the United States: “People who worship and kowtow to the United States often also disparage China ... Believe the moon is always brighter in foreign countries ... In turn, China’s great achievements are not worth mentioning in their eyes ... China of the new era is worthless in their eyes.”

This paragraph actually shows that there are people who had serious doubts about Xi’s decisions. This is the main thrust of the article.

The article more directly stated: “Some people ... are ideologically so sick and weak that they are the ‘surrenders’ in the struggle ... trade interests for security, rely on compromise for self-protection ... they even claim that this is ‘objective,’ ‘profound,’ ‘insightful’ ...We must resolutely fight ... to eliminate its influence.”

Such words also confirm that some people publicly talked about abandoning China’s confrontation strategy, something they considered to be “objective, profound, and insightful.” But this talk has impacted Xi’s reputation.

The end of the article stated, “In the face of big winds and waves, as long as we have the confidence and determination to handle our own affairs, any obstacles will be overcome.”

Xi has tried to maintain the Party’s confidence, but inadvertently admitted that the current “obstacles” are not easy. But it is Xi himself who created those obstacles. Now, not only has he again been publicly questioned by the Party, but others are trying to make waves.

Who Leaked the Database?

The United States has set new restrictions on visas for CCP members and their immediate families, and sanctioned 14 Chinese high-level officials. These measures should put the entire Party in a panic.

At this critical moment, a list of 1.95 million CCP members was suddenly exposed to the outside world. These CCP members are found to be working at the Shanghai branches of large multinational corporations, academic institutions, and government agencies, including Pfizer, Airbus, Boeing, Rolls Royce, HSBC, and Standard Chartered Bank, and even the British consulate in Shanghai.

The name, gender, national ID card number, home address, and communication method recorded on this list have all been verified. Such detailed information was most likely leaked by someone within the CCP.

Xi is at the cusp of a storm. Such an operation is likely meant to hit Xi hard by the anti-Xi faction.

Faced with such internal disruption, Xi Jinping had to publicly speak out in state media, attacking the mutinous Party members and trying to justify his failures.

On Dec. 16, Xinhua published a report that introduced Xiong Xianghui, a CCP secret agent who once served as a spy within the Kuomintang army.

The article stated that Xiong was “a member of the Communist Party fighting on a hidden front” and stressed that secret agents will never be “concealed by the smoke and dust of history.”

Xinhua deliberately praised spy stories in such a high-profile manner, which indirectly confirmed that there is a fierce internal struggle happening within the Party.

Yang Wei has closely followed China affairs for many years. He has contributed political commentary on China for the Chinese-language Epoch Times since 2019.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.