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Xi Jiping is in a life or death power struggle. [br]Is he more on the death side of things?

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Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell.

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[br]It seems in all likelihood

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He Weidong, one of China’s top [br]generals, has been purged.

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And if we’re talking about purges and [br]clandestine power struggles at the highest

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ranks of the Chinese Communist [br]Party, you know what that means!

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It’s time for another episode of the People’s [br]favorite Communist soap opera—General Hostility.

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Previously on General Hostility, after more [br]than a decade in power, Xi Jinping has purged

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millions of Chinese Communist officials [br]in his so-called anti-corruption campaign.

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But anti-corruption is just a front for Xi’s [br]true intentions! Trying to take over the world!

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Ok, it’s actually purging disloyal officials [br]to solidify his power over the CCP. And then

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trying to take over the world! But in [br]the face of a trade war with America,

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and a fraying economy at [br]home, are Xi’s days numbered?

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I love that show.

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So yes,

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Since Xi Jinping came to power in [br]2012, he’s purged a lot of people,

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Particularly in the military.

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This is pretty typical in Communist [br]China. It happens every 10-15 years.

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In 1959, Mao Zedong purged Marshal Peng Dehuai, [br]China’s Defense Minister at the time. Why? Because

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Peng resisted Mao’s cult of personality. [br]He obviously lost that power struggle.

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That sparked a huge round [br]of purges in the military.

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Fast forward to the 1970s.

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Mao’s chosen successor, Marshal Lin [br]Biao, allegedly tried to assassinate Mao,

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And so Mao began another massive purge [br]of top officials in the military.

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When Deng Xiaoping led the CCP,

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a failed Chinese invasion of Vietnam [br]led to another round of purges.

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When Jiang Zemin came to power in [br]the 90s, boom, more military purges.

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You get the idea.

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Purging the military is just what CCP leaders [br]do. It’s on their list, along with genociding

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a religious and/or ethnic minority of their [br]choice, and trying to take over the world.

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When Xi Jinping became the leader of the [br]CCP, he was in a massive power struggle

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with a political faction tied to former CCP [br]leader and current pickled toad Jiang Zemin.

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So of course he purged all the military [br]officials promoted under Jiang. Well,

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almost all of the military officials.

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Xi purged General Guo Boxiong, [br]who was in charge of military

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development and General Xu Caihou, [br]who was the political commissar.

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They had been in charge for a long time,

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so almost every top Chinese military [br]official had been promoted by them.

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Xi’s purge was devastating.

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He completely reorganized the People’s [br]Liberation Army command structure.

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And all the top positions [br]were now filled with people

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Xi personally promoted for their loyalty to him.

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And that’s what’s so weird about this recent [br]round of purges. Xi is getting rid of people

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like He Weidong, who are widely [br]believed to be Xi Jinping allies.

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He Weidong was big. He got what’s called [br]in Chinese politics, a helicopter ride.

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Xi promoted him several ranks at once, right [br]to the top. In 2019, he was put in charge of

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China’s Eastern Command. In other words, [br]the guys who would be invading Taiwan.

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Then two years ago, He was promoted to be [br]number three in China’s Central Military

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Commission—that’s the group that controls [br]the military. The number one position is,

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obviously Xi Jinping. [br]But the number two position

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is Zhang Youxia, the only survivor

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of the purges of General Guo [br]Boxiong and General Xu Caihou.

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So if you were placing bets on who Xi would [br]purge, you’d think Zhang Youxia , who was

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promoted by the generals appointed by [br]Xi Jinping’s arch enemy, would be way

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more likely. So why was it He Weidong? [br]Well, since this is the opaque world of

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inner Communist Party politics, there are [br]several explanations floating around.

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According to Miles Yu, who’s the director [br]of the China Center at the Hudson Institute,

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When Xi collapsed all the different [br]departments of the PLA during his big

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reorganization I mentioned earlier, this [br]created a lot of overlap. Redundancies.

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So with Generals Zhang Youxia and He Weidong,[br]“They have overlapping core competencies.”

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“that's why you got enormous internal struggle [br]and fight against each other for favor. So it's

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basically a turf war and that's why Xi [br]Jinping had to sacrifice one of them.”

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Of course that doesn’t really explain why it was [br]He Weidong that got purged and not Zhang Youxia.

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So here’s another explanation.

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It has to do with this guy—Miao Hua.

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Miao was another member of the [br]Central Military Commission,

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and Xi Jinping’s main propaganda [br]guy for the military. So,

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a major Xi ally in the military. And he [br]got purged. That was a few months ago.

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Sinoinsider, a risk consultancy that [br]specializes in elite Chinese politics,

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suggests his purge could have been similar [br]to Chairman Mao’s purge of Lin Biao —a

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close ally that may have become too [br]ambitious for the Great Helmsman.

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“In the process of advancing [br]Xi’s political objectives,

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Miao could have inadvertently [br]cultivated his own power base,

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or was perceived by Xi as having cultivated a [br]power base that could threaten his interests.”

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Life as a CCP official sounds very [br]stressful. If you don’t get enough power,

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you get purged. If you get too much [br]power, you also get purged. If you

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even look like you might be getting [br]too much power, you still get purged.

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So if you’re about to get purged, what can you [br]do to save yourself? Rat other people out.

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According to Yuan Hongbing, an [br]Australia-based Chinese dissident,

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Miao Hua, in order to save his own skin, [br]made sweeping accusations of disloyalty.

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How sweeping? He accused around 1,300 people at [br]all ranks of the Chinese military of disloyalty,

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including people above him, like He Weidong.

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But then there’s yet another [br]explanation floating around out there—

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Xi Jinping is out of power. [br]As in, totally out of power.

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And General Zhang Youxia, [br]the number two guy in the

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Central Military Commission is really in charge.

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That’s why Xi allies are being purged. [br]Because now there’s a new guy at the top.

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As the guy basically in charge of China’s [br]military, Zhang would have a ton of power.

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And Xi has certainly made himself [br]a lot of enemies over the years.

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And with the Chinese economy struggling

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Young people unable to find work

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And a growing trade war with the United States

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Maybe enough people within the Chinese [br]Communist Party have had enough.

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And there certainly have been [br]coup *attempts* against Xi before.

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But there are some problems with this.

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Rumors of a *successful* coup against [br]Xi have obviously not always panned out.

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And looking at Chinese state-run media, you [br]don’t get a sense that Xi’s going anywhere.

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Instead you see, Xi Jinping Thought on [br]Culture leads path to national rejuvenation

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And Senior official calls for thoroughly studying, [br]implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Culture

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Officials at all levels, [br]particularly in the military,

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are still being told to study [br]Xi’s writings and speeches.

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Typically in Chinese Communist power struggles,

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*before* one faction topples another, they create [br]a narrative around it to sway public opinion.

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If Xi really were out of power, you wouldn’t [br]expect his propaganda to be so prominent.

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The real test of Xi’s power will come in 2027

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at the 21st Party Congress.

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And whether or not he gets, “elected” to [br]another 5 years as China’s supreme leader.

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Oh but don’t worry, there’s plenty of General [br]Hostility to watch before then. In fact, there are

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signs that there are bigger purges ahead. Not just [br]in the military, but throughout the entire CCP.

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Last month two CCP officials switched jobs. Now,

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that might not sound earthshaking, [br]but it’s highly unusual.

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In fact, unlike the military [br]purges that happen every decade,

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this has never happened before [br]since the CCP took over China.

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This is Shi Taifeng, who was in charge [br]of the United Front Work Department.

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He swapped jobs with this guy, Li Ganjie, who was [br]in charge of the Central Organization Department.

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The United Front is an incredibly important [br]department, because it’s in charge of influencing

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and subverting others for the CCP. Both [br]inside China and internationally. For example,

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all the influence campaigns targeting foreign [br]politicians are run by the United Front.

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These pandas? United Front operatives.

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But the Central Organization Department is even [br]more important than the United Front. Because it’s

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essentially the Human Resources Department for [br]the CCP. Except this HR Department can purge you.

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So if Xi Jinping is moving Shi Taifeng, [br]who’s considered one of his allies,

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to head the Central Organization Department, [br]that’s pretty big. Personnel issues are now

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a bigger priority for Xi than the United [br]Front’s influence and subversion campaigns.

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According to SinoInsider, “The move foreshadows a [br]sweeping purge or reassignment of officials in the

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Party, the government, and the military, [br]as well as major personnel changes.”

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You know what that means.

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In the Chinese Communist [br]Party, there is only one rule:

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live by the power struggle, [br]die by the power struggle.

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After a decade of purges, Xi Jinping still hasn’t [br]won. Will Xi start an earthquake inside the CCP,

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purged officials falling left and right? [br]Or will he himself finally be toppled?

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Find out next time, on General Hostility.

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Once again I’m Chris Chappell, see you next time.