[The Epoch Times, September 24, 2022]There are various signs that the internal competition before the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is extremely fierce. On September 21, the People’s Liberation Army Daily reported that at the seminar on the reform of the CCP’s national defense and military, Xi Jinping, who was the “leader of the Central Military Commission’s Leading Group for Deepening National Defense and Military Reform,” was absent, and Xu Qiliang, two vice-chairmen of the Central Military Commission, and Zhang Youxia and other senior military officials did not mention the strange phenomenon of Xi and lack of loyalty, which made people feel confused. On September 23, two reports published by the CCP media Xinhua News Agency also showed important changes, which confirmed the military seminar. The strangeness of the above is not accidental, but shows that something major has happened within the high-level of the CCP.
The titles of these two reports by Xinhua News Agency are “The Great Practice of Reforming and Strengthening the Army in the New Era – A Summary of the CPC Central Committee and President Xi’s Leadership and Command to Deepen the Reform of National Defense and the Army” and “Research in China in the New Era: Extraordinary Decades to See Advantages丨 Order Organizing in all directions…”. The most noteworthy thing about the two reports is that they highlight the status of the “Party Central Committee”.
The article “Overview of Military Reform” first placed “the Party Central Committee” in front of “President Xi” in the title. Such a ranking is very rare in recent years. I believe that the title that many people are used to is “Xi Jinping…” .
Entering the third line of the opening of the main text, it reads: “Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee and President Xi have placed the deepening of national defense and military reforms in a prominent position in the overall work of the Party and the country, put forward a series of major ideas, and made a series of major decisions. Deploy a series of major tasks, comprehensively implement the strategy of reforming and strengthening the military, and lead the entire army to vigorously promote reforms. Deepen national defense and military reforms…”. In addition, the article also stated that “the Party Central Committee has decided to incorporate the deepening of national defense and military reforms into the overall plan of comprehensively deepening reforms, and elevated it to the party’s will and state behavior.”
Such an expression conveys the message that the thinking, decision-making, and work of the national defense and military reforms since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China are not the work of Xi alone, but are under the leadership of the Party Central Committee.
If you compare this report with the article “Answer to the Times of Writing Reform and Strengthening the Army” published by the CCP Military Network on July 26, you can see the difference. The latter’s opening statement is “In November 2015, the Central Military Commission reform work conference was held, and President Xi issued a mobilization order to deepen national defense and military reform to the entire army”, and there are many words in the text touting Xi Jinping, who promoted the military reform, For example, “what moves history is often a sharp and powerful ideological lever”, “the military commander’s profound historical vision, grand strategic considerations, and strong mission commitment”, “the supreme commander’s strategic vision and political determination are the key to the success of reform. The decisive factor of the reform”, “President Xi’s important speech pointed out the direction for the promotion of reform”, etc., citing more Xi’s words, the “Party Central Committee” mentioned is only under the “strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core” “Such a context.
There is also the article “Providing Strategic Support for the Realization of the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation – A Summary of the Achievements of National Defense and Army Construction in the New Era under the Guidance of Xi Jinping’s Thought on Strengthening the Army” on Xinhuanet on July 31. The same general reform was successfully attributed to Xi, saying “President Xi Standing at the strategic height of coordinating the ‘two overall situations’, clearly put forward the party’s goal of strengthening the army in the new era, clarify the mission and tasks of the people’s army in the new era, and make a series of strategic plans and deployments to speed up the modernization of national defense and the army…”.
On the other hand, in the article “Overview of Military Reform”, in addition to placing the “Party Central Committee” before “Chairman Xi”, the praise of Xi has also been restrained a lot, and it is more about stating the facts, that is, what Xi has done in the process of military reform. However, between the lines, there are still a few words of praise, such as “These two extraordinary ‘firsts’ show the firm will and firmness of the party’s core, army commander and people’s leader to deepen national defense and army reform. determination”.
This is actually normal. After all, Xi is still the “Chairman of the Military Commission”, and Xi’s cronies in the military and in the media will also make small moves. But no matter how small moves are made, it cannot hide the fact that the top leaders of the CCP are trying to restore the collective leadership of the former “Party Central Committee”, rather than the reality that Xi Jinping is the “one leader”.
Once again illustrating this trend is the article “Orders to organize in all directions…”. The article mainly talks about “the advantages of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics from the perspective of coordinating epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development”. There is a sentence in the article: “The Party Central Committee takes overall control of the overall situation, makes decisive decisions, and demonstrates the role of ‘Ding Hai Shen Zhen’.” In response to the sudden and severe epidemic, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held several meetings to study and make decisions, and led the organization of the Party, government, military and civilian studies, and the East, West, North, South, and Central Committees. The joint prevention and control mechanism…under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core…”. Downplaying Xi’s status again.
In previous reports, people often see this expression: “General Secretary Xi Jinping personally directed and deployed, united and led hundreds of millions of people to fight the battle of coordinating epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development.”
In addition, when Xinhua News Agency reported that Li Keqiang chaired an executive meeting of the State Council on September 21 and listened to the report on the ninth State Council inspection, the text did not include “Xi”, but only mentioned “implementing the deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council.”
Also, in the report “The Most Harvest-Heavy Rice Praise Sings Praises” on food security launched by People’s Daily Online on September 23, “Xi” was never seen. In the article “Firmly Take the initiative in food security”, which was launched on the 22nd, it repeatedly mentioned Xi’s emphasis and instructions on food security, forming a sharp contrast. This may have something to do with Fu Hua, the president of Xinhua News Agency, who said “three one-minutes” for his loyalty, but on the 23rd, Xinhua News Agency changed its tone.
However, at odds with the CCP media and Li Keqiang, there is a member of the Standing Committee of politicians: Zhao Leji, secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. According to the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Zhao Leji, who had disappeared for a while, chaired the Standing Committee of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on September 22 to learn the spirit of Xi Jinping’s important speech at the provincial and ministerial seminars at the end of July. Zhao Leji pointed out the decisive significance of the “two establishments”, and asked everyone to effectively strengthen the “four consciousnesses”, strengthen the “four self-confidences”, and achieve “two maintenances”.
Compared with other party, government and military institutions that have studied for a long time, Zhao Leji’s study is a bit late, and strangely, Zhao Leji’s activities are not visible on Xinhuanet and People’s Daily Online. If the activities of a standing committee member are not reported, what is going on behind this? Could it be that he was forgiven by Xi for an accident before, so he came out to speak up for Xi? This possibility exists. One can only sigh that the game at the top of the CCP is startling every step of the way.
Regardless of Zhao Leji’s activities, there is no doubt that the message sent by the CCP media is very important, that is, the collective leadership of the Politburo Standing Committee, which has gradually weakened since the 18th and 19th National Congresses, will be promoted, and Xi’s dominance will be weakened. Behind it should be the joint actions of CCP veterans and reformists within the party. Whether this situation will be maintained until the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, whether it will affect Xi’s re-election, and whether it will end the CCP’s military attack on Taiwan, is still difficult to draw conclusions, but it is certain that the resistance to Xi’s re-election is not ordinary If Xi is unwilling to accept such an arrangement, it will mean that the wrestling behind it will be even more brutal.
Responsible editor: Pu Shan