[The Epoch Times, May 16, 2022]The CCP’s party building is often to make up for what it lacks, and it can expose the crisis within the party in disguise. Before the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and before the Beidaihe Conference, which used to be known as the tradition of old people interfering in politics, Xi Jinping’s authorities issued a document to “seal” retired cadres in the name of party building. There have been rumors that the CCP veterans are involved in the operation, and the anti-Xi faction has blocked Xi’s re-election. Under the fierce infighting, did the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China have an accident?
Seal old cadres with “new era” new regulations
The Xinhua News Agency of the Communist Party of China reported on May 15 that recently, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued “Opinions on Strengthening the Party Building of Retired Cadres in the New Era”. The report mentioned that the document emphasized the need to “better unite the vast majority of retired cadres” around the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core. Require veteran cadres to achieve “two maintenance”, “consciously ideologically, politically, and action-oriented” to maintain a high degree of consistency with Xi Jinping’s Central Committee, “strengthen political leadership”, and require “retired cadres and party members, especially those who have held leadership positions, strictly abide by the relevant Disciplinary Rules”.
On the same day, Xinhua News Agency published a response from the head of the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to a reporter’s question regarding the aforementioned document, mentioning that in recent years, there have been “new situations in which party members and cadres relax their self-requirements after retiring, resulting in violations of discipline and law.”
According to reports, the aforementioned documents clearly ordered retired veteran cadres not to arbitrarily discuss the major policies of the Party Central Committee, and not to spread politically negative remarks, etc.
According to the original definition of the CCP, retired veteran cadres are veteran cadres who participated in “revolutionary” work before the establishment of the CCP, and can enjoy resignation and recuperation benefits according to conditions. From the central to the local level, the CCP has a veteran cadre bureau, a veteran cadre activity center, a senior cadre ward, and a cadre rest center. It is said that this is a unique privilege system in the world.
As the old cadres died one after another during the establishment of the Communist Party of China, the number of these people in the initial definition was small, and the still-surviving Song Ping was the representative. Senior cadres who have retired over the years now account for the majority of “retired cadres”, from all central ministries and commissions to all regions. They are different from ordinary middle and lower-level retired cadres. These people are the super-privileged class of the CCP. After retirement, they have extravagant privileged medical treatment and welfare benefits. They are still generally referred to as retired cadres and “old comrades”.
Before this year’s Beidaihe Conference, strictly speaking before the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the authorities issued this document targeting veteran cadres under the banner of “party building” for them, expressly telling them to abide by the rules and be consistent with Xi Jinping, but the point is “Shut up”, do not arbitrarily talk about the central government, and demand a high degree of consistency with Xi Jinping. The top priority should be targeting the party veterans who had stepped down at the top of the CCP but still have the right to speak.
Pingkov, the founder of “Hanhe Defense Review” and an overseas military commentator, also disclosed in a video program on February 25, 2021 that the authorities have “silenced” serving officials. He said, “Beijing’s current political atmosphere is very strange. The intelligence I have obtained shows that officials at the central level in Beijing have issued documents that cannot discuss the issues of the 20th National Congress, that is, don’t discuss the 20th National Congress. To the inner government and the outer government, central committee members, ministerial-level cadres.”
Before the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping, a veteran of stability maintenance, has increased the resistance to re-election?
In fact, Xi Jinping has made a strong move to maintain the stability of the party’s political veterans a few years ago.
On February 5, 2016, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council released “Opinions on Further Strengthening and Improving the Work of Retired Cadres” for the first time in the name of “two offices”. The Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee emphasized at the time that the “opinions” required retired cadres and party members to “be consistent in ideology, politics and actions with the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the general secretary.” In addition, the “opinions” also put forward six requirements for strengthening the education and management of retired cadres and party members, including “establishing a sense of discipline and rules, and accepting political discipline and political rules.”
The latest similar document this time is equivalent to adding another code after a lapse of six years. Does it mean that there was no order last time, and it was impossible to subdue these retired veteran cadres?
The families of these veteran cadres belong to the strata of interest that benefited the most during the decades of so-called reform and opening up under Deng Xiaoping. In recent years, the anti-Xi faction within the party is under the banner of Deng Xiaoping. There have been people at the top of the CCP planning to oppose Xi Jinping, and they do not want Xi Jinping to be re-elected smoothly at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The attitude of CCP veterans with special status in the party towards Xi’s re-election has always been the focus of outside observation.
At the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October 2017, Xi Jinping consolidated his position as the core of the party, and by the National People’s Congress in March 2018, the constitutional amendment removed the term limit for the president of the country, which is regarded as Xi Jinping’s paving the way for lifelong rule.
On July 1 last year, on the CCP celebration day, Xi Jinping was alone on the Tiananmen Gate, wearing a woolen suit with a gloomy face; Hu Jintao, the former leader of the party who had resigned to support Xi Jinping’s rise to power, was shown two times by Xi Jinping on the spot. Dazed look. The former Premier Wen Jiabao stood on the Tiananmen Gate, showing an expression of anxiety, sorrow, pain and disappointment, and there was no joy at all. Some netizens said that even on the eve of 8964 when the CCP army was preparing to suppress the students who were peacefully demonstrating, Wen Sui Zhao Ziyang visited the students in Tiananmen Square, and his face had never been so serious.
The third historical resolution passed at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in November last year included Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao into a period, and Xi Jinping led a new era. But at the same time, the Sixth Plenary Session did not deny the restrictions on individual centralization in the second historical resolution of Deng Xiaoping’s period, and the articles against the cult of personality and the life-long system are still valid. At that time, it was rumored that Xi Jinping made a concession in order to allow the resolution to pass.
The power struggle is intensified and the chaotic news spreads wildly. The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China may have an accident
The power struggle over the top-level transition of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China this fall has heated up. One appearance is that the voices against Xi breaking the succession system are being released through publicity, foreign media, and even self-media, and the former high-level CCP leaders have become the main card of the anti-Xi faction.
On December 22, 2021, the special article “Unswervingly Adhering to the Line of the Third Plenary Session and the Road of Reform and Opening” written by Hu Wei, Vice Chairman of the Public Policy Research Center of the Counselor’s Office of the State Council of the Communist Party of China, was published in the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee’s official newspaper, Jiefang Daily. . The article mentions Deng Xiaoping eight times and Xi Jinping only once. The entire writing is in praise of Deng Xiaoping, especially mentioning the restoration of collective leadership at the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the abolition of the tenure system for leading cadres, and the emphasis on opposing individual totalitarianism. The article even quoted Deng’s speech as a warning: “Whoever wants to change the line, principles and policies since the Third Plenary Session” “will be overthrown.”
In recent years, Xi Jinping has purged various industries in the country. The Wall Street Journal reported in March that Xi Jinping was opposed by several senior members of the party, and had to adjust his policies because of the economic crisis. The report also said that some retiring veterans have recently expressed opposition to Xi Jinping’s willingness to break the established leadership succession, according to CCP insiders. Among these elders was Zhu Rongji.
Given that every time there is a change of office, there are always many forces within the party who use foreign media to show off, and the information of these opponents is not surprising. But because Xi’s amendment to the constitution abolished the presidential term system a few years ago, they should have agreed at that time. If the “Wall Street Journal” news is true, it can only show that in the new situation, the elders are now not admitting their accounts.
On April 23, Duowei.com, an overseas media with a Jiang faction background, published an article touting the selection process of Singapore’s fourth-generation prime minister’s successor, saying that the CCP should learn from it and let more than 200 members of the Central Committee elect new leaders together. It is implied that Xi Jinping cannot be re-elected, and it is time to find someone to take over. As a result, after only three days, on the 26th, Duoweiwang suddenly announced that it would stop working. The reason for not being able to spread it to the outside world, or because of forcing the palace of Xi Jinping, was caused by Xi Jinping’s counterattack.
The authorities’ strong push to “zero out” the epidemic prevention, especially the humanitarian crisis caused by the closure of Shanghai’s city, has criticized both inside and outside the system. Since the beginning of May, overseas social media has been flooded with rumors that Xi Jinping will step down due to poor prevention and control of the new crown virus. A certain self-media broke the news one after another, claiming that Xi Jinping had suffered a coup and was forced to “cede” power to Li Keqiang, and that Xi Jinping would publicly abdicate and announce the change of shift until the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
Xi’s powerful purge campaign since he came to power has offended various factions. Of course, he knows that opposition forces may form a group and explicitly prevent him from being re-elected. It’s just that according to Xi’s style, it is absolutely impossible to perform the so-called “concession”, and he cannot sit still. Xi Jinping will definitely fight back, just like the purging of the multi-dimensional propaganda, and the increase in the level of silence from the political old man.
Xi Jinping first wants to be re-elected. However, as the infighting between protecting Xi Jinping and anti-Xi Jinping intensifies, on the stage of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, due to too much infighting, there may be unexpected accidents, and the regime collapses suddenly. Xi Jinping wanted to be in power for life, and even wanted the red country to remain unchanged, and it turned into nothing.
Responsible editor: Sun Yun#