News Analysis
A 36-year-old speech, republished by a Communist Party mouthpiece, has inspired speculation that the Chinese regime’s new leader Xi Jinping is sending a warning to a high level enemy inside the Party.
The speech, given by former reform-minded regime leader Hu Yaobang on Sept. 3, 1977, when Hu worked under then regime head Deng Xiaoping, was an exposé of Kang Sheng, the regime’s head for Intelligence Services at the time.
Hu Yaobang’s efforts at reform led to him being removed from the post of general secretary in 1987 and put under house arrest. When he passed away in April 1989, his death triggered the student democracy movement. 50,000 students marched to Tiananmen Square to attend Hu’s memorial service.
Kang Sheng was actively involved in persecuting his colleagues during various political campaigns, such as the Cultural Revolution. After his death, the Party decided to expel him on Oct. 16, 1980, stripping him of his various titles as well.
Hu’s speech was republished in the latest issue of Study Times, the journal of the Communist Party’s Central Party School.
Xi Jinping headed the Party School before becoming paramount leader. China affairs commentator Shi Zangshan said that, according to insiders, the Study Times belongs to Xi’s faction.
Commenting on the Study Times article, Shi said its tone is “very severe,” using words such as “careerist” and “conspirator.”
Zeng Qinghong
Among the regime’s high level, influential members, only Zeng Qinghong has a background similar to Kang Sheng.
Both men have held positions as head of the Organization Department, Deputy Chairman, Secretary of the CCP’s Central Committee, Standing Member of the Politburo, and most importantly, both of them were in control of the regime’s vast intelligence and spying system.
Zeng has been known to be an important advisor to former Party head Jiang Zemin and his faction. Party insiders say Zeng played a major part in an unsuccessful plot to use Bo Xilai to replace Xi as the regime’s top leader.
According to various sources, after taking over the top leadership, Xi had intended to distance himself from Jiang Zemin on the issue of the persecution of Falun Gong. Jiang ordered the persecution in July 1999, and it has become an exceedingly sensitive issue for the regime.
However, Zeng has opposed Xi’s plan by organizing his people in Hong Kong to stage public assaults against Falun Gong practitioner when they have public events, in order to mislead the international community and make it appear as if Xi stands by Jiang on the persecution.
Very likely, the purpose for republishing Hu Yaobang’s speech at this time is to send a message that history is about to repeat itself, and that “someone acting like Kang Sheng” is in imminent danger of being expelled from the party and stripped of all his titles.
Translation by Tan Hohua. Written in English by Gisela Sommer.
Read the original Chinese article.
