[China Watch]Political wrestling over business bans among family members of senior cadres | Politburo | Beidaihe Conference | Xi Jinping

[The Epoch Times, June 20, 2022](Reported by The Epoch Times reporters Ning Haizhong and Luo Ya) Before the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, every move of the CCP’s top leaders is easy to cause conjectures. After a recent Politburo meeting focused on fighting corruption, the authorities released a document restricting and censoring family members of “leading cadres” from doing business. At the same time, the recent political rumors surrounding Xi Jinping’s instability in power have drawn attention.

Xi Jinping reiterates the anti-corruption attack on the Politburo Central Office to issue a document banning the family members of leading cadres from doing business

The Communist Party’s official Xinhua News Agency reported that the Political Bureau of the Central Committee conducted a “collective study” on anti-corruption on the 17th. According to reports, Xi stressed that the fight against corruption is “a major political struggle that cannot be lost and must not be lost.” He also demanded that members of the Politburo “must uphold the highest standards” and that “leading cadres, especially senior cadres,” “must manage themselves, Also, take care of your family and relatives, and take care of the things around you.”

The official also said that the meeting also reviewed the central inspection and rectification report of financial units, and “also studied other matters.” According to the practice of the Politburo meeting of the Communist Party of China, “other matters” generally refers to personnel transfers or other matters that should not be disclosed.

Two days later, on the 19th, Xinhua News Agency issued an article stating that the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the “Regulations on the Management of Leading Cadres’ Spouse, Children and Their Spouses to Run Business and Run Enterprises” (hereinafter referred to as the “Regulations”). The Central Office is controlled by Ding Xuexiang, a close associate of Xi Jinping.

This regulation covers a variety of situations in which the family members of senior officials do business and run enterprises, mainly investing in establishing enterprises, holding senior positions in private enterprises or foreign-funded enterprises, and investing in private equity funds. Allegedly, “the spouses, children and their spouses of leading cadres at different levels and categories have been banned from running businesses, and the higher the level of leading cadres, the stricter the requirements…”

The “Regulations” require that “leading cadres should truthfully report their spouses, children and their spouses when reporting personal matters every year.” The authorities will conduct random inspections and key inspections. Make an explanation that their spouses, children and their spouses should quit the business and run the enterprise, or the leading cadres themselves should quit their positions, accept the adjustment of their positions, and give corresponding treatment to the leading cadres as the case may be.” After the inspection, “Those who do not meet the regulations on the prohibition of employment for the proposed post should quit the business enterprise, and those who do not agree to quit will not be appointed.” “Seriously deal with” those who “report falsely” or violate the prohibition.

Chen Weijian, the editor-in-chief of “Beijing Spring” and a senior media person, told The Epoch Times on June 20 that the most important part of this meeting was that Xi Jinping raised anti-corruption and clearly targeted senior cadres.

He believes that Xi Jinping recently emphasized the need to insist on dynamic clearing, but there is a bit of a taste of yang and yin violations in various places, all of which are implementing Li Keqiang’s instructions to resume work and production, and to get the economy up. Xi Jinping has been hit hard. Of course he wasn’t reconciled, how he wanted to get this part of his authority back. The best way to do that is to fight corruption. Fighting corruption is a forte in the struggle within the CCP.

“Especially when the 20th National Congress is approaching, if he wants to be re-elected, he must deter those who oppose him. Now senior cadres, including their families, are required to report their property. This is indeed a very big threat to the party. It’s like saying that Xi Jinping controls them all. Anyone who is disobedient and dishonest can use this method to beat him down. Because now which cadre and their relatives do not have any problems?”

The Epoch Times reporter verified and found that the CCP had a similar property declaration requirement for officials more than 20 years ago. In 1995, the “Regulations on the Income Declaration of Leading Cadres at the County (Division) Level and Above of the Party and Government Organs” were issued. In 2006, the “Regulations on the Reporting of Personal Matters by Party Members and Leading Cadres” were issued. By February 2017, the “Regulations on Leading Cadres Reporting Personal Relevant Matters” and “Leading Cadres Personal Relevant Matters Reporting Check Results” will be released.

Among them, the 2017 version of the regulations has required CCP officials to report 8 items of “family affairs” and 6 items of “family property”. Family matters include marriage, children (including illegitimate children), documents and behaviors of going abroad (outside) for private purposes, emigration outside the country (outside), employment, and being investigated for criminal responsibility by judicial organs. Family property includes salary income, labor income, real estate, holding stocks, funds and investment insurance, business and running enterprises, and deposits and investments outside the country (overseas).

The Epoch Times reporter also verified that the 2017 version of the official property declaration method is much stricter and broader than the previous version, requiring officials to declare the property of their children at the same time, and even illegitimate children are counted among the children to be declared.

Chen Weijian told The Epoch Times that because these things are already in Xi Jinping’s hands, he can use them whenever he wants. Anti-corruption itself is the most important weapon to defeat the opponent. However, Chen Weijian judged that there will definitely be room for specific negotiation within the CCP.

Wu Zuolai, a scholar based in the United States, told The Epoch Times on June 20 that there are multiple factors in Xi’s efforts to combat corruption and re-examine the business operations of the children of high-level cadres.

One reason is the Russian-Ukrainian war. The assets of some important Russians overseas were huge, and as a result, they were confiscated or frozen by the West. The CCP has to learn this lesson. “Because a lot of the CCP’s funds are in the hands of Western countries, it may affect the CCP’s decision-making. So they want to do an internal cleanup.”

In this regard, the “Wall Street Journal” reported on May 19 that the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued an internal notice in March, requiring officials at or above the ministerial level that their spouses and children should not directly or indirectly hold any real estate overseas, or hold any real estate in foreign countries. Shares of entities registered overseas, otherwise they cannot be promoted. Senior officials and their immediate family members also cannot open accounts with overseas financial institutions without valid reasons for study or work.

Wu Zuolai also believes that another reason for Xi Jinping to deal with the family members of senior cadres in business is to threaten their opponents. The investigation into the business operations of the family members of senior cadres has to be checked until the 20th National Congress, which is a deterrent to opponents.

Wu Zuo said that the CCP’s internal warning method may also be that the central finance is too short of money, and the family members of high-level leaders are asked to provide some of the money.

“Because they really used their power to gain huge profits in some monopoly fields, and they were billions or tens of billions at every turn, so they must have grasped the situation internally. Some people belong to (Xi)’s own faction. There will be one Coordination, through hints or advance notice. For example, there are thousands of cadres above the provincial and ministerial level, and the five hundred people (each person) put out 100 million yuan, which is 50 billion yuan. So they may be internally raising funds. The Qing Dynasty When he was about to fall, didn’t Yuan Shikai use the imperial court to ask each of them to spend money to pay the army, so that they could fight against the revolutionary army? It’s about the same.” Wu Zuo said.

There are rumors in Beijing whether Xi Jinping will be re-elected at the 20th National Congress?

The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China holds a regular meeting every month, which is usually held at the end of the month, but this month’s regular meeting is held on the 17th; in addition, the Xinhua News Agency’s announcement was almost a whole day late for the anti-corruption study held on the afternoon of the 17th.

Wu Zuolai, a scholar based in the United States, said that according to his observations, the reports of the CCP’s official meetings, including the release of Xi Jinping’s speeches, are more rigorous than before. He said that since May, the CCP has taken certain measures against Xi Jinping, and he is not allowed to speak without authorization, and the media is not allowed to publish it without authorization. “If it is released, it will be approved. So now it’s going to be a long time.”

This claim is difficult to prove. However, Zhao Xiao (pseudonym), the second generation of Beijing Red, who lives in the military compound in Beijing and cannot be named for security reasons, told The Epoch Times earlier on June 10 that the recent political rumors about Xi Jinping’s resignation have been spreading on WeChat, and it is necessary to Open it with a password, and the content inside is amazing.

“At first glance, it’s all about him (Xi), exposing him too much, and saying that he is worthless… tyrant, fascist, bastard, idiot, hooligan, ruffian, these words are used, and it is said that Cruelly, the thunder struck the fire…”

Wu Zuolai told The Epoch Times that he observed that the rumors about opposition to Xi’s re-election and “Xi’s next Li Shang” have already been made public in the domestic self-media, and have not been banned or deleted, “This is very An interesting phenomenon. It is possible that in some areas, Xi’s forces have indeed gotten out of control, or some people inside him know some information and no longer pledge allegiance to him, so everyone is watching.”

He believes that the official media is now promoting Xi as general secretary on a daily basis, “but the possibility of not being able to stay in office is very high. Now (rumors) are spread semi-openly and spread widely.”

Yuan Hongbing, a jurist based in Australia, has a different opinion. On June 20, he told The Epoch Times that Li Shulei, a close confidant of Xi Jinping, had recently seized the real power of the Central Propaganda Department and demanded to strengthen the review of the draft, so it may be released later than before. He also said that, according to mainland official sources, after Li Shulei, the executive vice minister of the Central Propaganda Department, the CCP propaganda agency is now touting Xi Jinping every day to build momentum for Xi Jinping’s re-election.

“They called me to say that after Li Shulei came to power, he has been on various simulcast programs and CCTV’s news simulcast program, and every week there must be a summary of Xi Jinping’s great achievements, from a comprehensive summary of politics, economy and culture, just for him. Preparing for re-election. I read the internal briefing they gave me, saying that Li Shulei is now everywhere touting how well Xi Jinping has done the economy. Civil servants are even going to drop their wages, but he says the economy is very good.”

Since March this year, Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized the adherence to “dynamic clearing”, but the clearing and epidemic prevention measures characterized by closure and control have caused huge controversy due to serious damage to the economy and people’s livelihood. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has made frequent appearances to try to save the economy, seemingly surpassing Xi Jinping at one point in the limelight. However, the heads of the CCP’s media were intensively replaced, and the propaganda trend quickly returned to the state of fully praising Xi Jinping. On June 17, Xinhua News Agency and People’s Daily published an article at the same time, “Walking with Courage and Perseverance – A Review of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Leading China’s Economic and Social Development to Seek Progress While Stable”.

The article stated that under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core, “seven major policies have accelerated the implementation”, “33 policies in six areas have focused on solidly stabilizing the economy and continued to strengthen… A series of policy measures have focused on stabilizing the macro economy. Big Plate”.

In response, commentator Zhong Yuan wrote in The Epoch Times on June 18 that the party media put the work of Li Keqiang’s continuous meetings and arrangements on Xi Jinping in one sentence. This is the urgency of the party media to regain economic dominance for Xi Jinping.

Yuan Hongbing told The Epoch Times that there are too many people in China who scold Xi Jinping, and there are too many people who persuade him to step down.

“The propaganda system is controlled by Li Shulei, the public security system is controlled by Wang Xiaohong, the military system is controlled by Zhong Shaojun, and the discipline inspection system is controlled by Yang Xiaodu. Wang Xiaohong’s purge of the public security system is far from complete. The recent Tangshan incident is to purge the police department in Hebei Province.”

“Xiao Jianhua’s case is about to be tried. The purpose of the trial must be to deter the Jiang Zemin family and the Zeng Qinghong family.”

Yuan Hongbing said that on the one hand, Xi Jinping’s rule is full of crises, and on the other hand, the CCP’s political logic is still in accordance with Xi’s will, which is a very contradictory phenomenon.

Yuan Hongbing believes that there is no suspense in Xi Jinping’s re-election to the 20th National Congress, but it does not mean that the CCP regime under his rule can be stable. “After the 20th National Congress, the economic crisis will definitely break out.”

Responsible editor: Fang Xiao#