Is it a coincidence that the expunging of Xi Zhongxun [Xi Jinping’s father] has come to light while Xi himself seemingly disappeared from public view in the last two weeks of May? Chinese institutions are always alert to changes in the political wind – no more so than the state media. Recently China-watchers have detected subtle changes. Xi, usually on every front page of the People’s Liberation Army Daily, has been much less prominent. Shen Ming-Shih, a Director of the Institute for National Defence and Security Research in Taiwan, has observed “a noticeable decline in the official references to Xi”.
In the past, Xi has been described as the “eternal core of the party”. As recently as December, the People’s Liberation Army Daily wrote that decisions should “rely on a single voice of authority”. Now it praises the virtues of “collective leadership”. In addition, Shen has pointed out that academics at Peking University and South China University of Technology have not been punished for writing essays critical of Xi’s policies.
Remarkably, Hu Jintao, Xi’s predecessor and faction opponent, who, in
front of the world’s press, was humiliatingly manhandled out of the
CCP’s 20th National Congress in October 2022 by Xi’s bodyguards, seems
to be making a comeback. On May 19th, the People’s Daily and Xinhua News
both published articles using Hu catchphrases that reference
“scientific, democratic and law-based decision-making”. Wen Jiabao, the
supposedly billionaire former Chinese premier, is another elder who is
reportedly on manoeuvres....<<<Read More>>>...
