News analysis
If an oil well catches fire, firefighters ignite dynamite near the blaze. The blast has an effect similar to blowing out a candle. It sucks out oxygen while the shockwave pushes away the burning fuel.
While under pressure from the anti-corruption campaign of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the rival political faction led by former Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin is using a method similar to what’s done when fighting an oil well fire—starting chaos elsewhere to draw attention from itself.
For the second time since 2014, the Chinese legislature, which is still part of the Jiang faction, is interfering with its governance of Hong Kong. On Nov. 7, it issued a rare, controversial reading of Hong Kong’s mini-constitution. Hong Kong residents have started responding in a similar way to the 2014 Umbrella Movement, and are organizing protests against Beijing for eroding their rights and freedoms under the official “one party, two systems” governance of Hong Kong.
The Jiang faction’s idea of stirring trouble, it seems, is to discredit the Xi administration, and force Xi to shift his attention from taking down the few remaining elites of the Jiang faction.
As the regime’s new “core” leader, however, Xi Jinping now has the political leverage to execute a judo move on the fractious elements. With Xi continuing his relentless takedown of Jiang’s faction, those in charge of rousing Hong Kong will most likely stay in the game of “chicken,” and hasten their own political demise.
