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Xi Jiping is in a life or death power struggle. 
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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It seems in all likelihood

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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and a fraying economy at 
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 
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 
China. It happens every 10-15 years.

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

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

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That sparked a huge round 
of purges in the military.

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Fast forward to the 1970s.

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

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And so Mao began another massive purge 
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 
led to another round of purges.

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When Jiang Zemin came to power in 
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 
do. It’s on their list, along with genociding  

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

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

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

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

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almost all of the military officials. 

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

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development and General Xu Caihou, 
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 
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 
Liberation Army command structure.

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And all the top positions 
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 
round of purges. Xi is getting rid of people

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

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

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

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

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

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

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obviously Xi Jinping. 
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 
Boxiong and General Xu Caihou.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Of course that doesn’t really explain why it was 
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 
Central Military Commission,  

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

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

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Sinoinsider, a risk consultancy that 
specializes in elite Chinese politics,  

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

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

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

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Miao could have inadvertently 
cultivated his own power base,  

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

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

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you get purged. If you get too much 
power, you also get purged. If you  

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

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

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According to Yuan Hongbing, an 
Australia-based Chinese dissident,  

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

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How sweeping? He accused around 1,300 people at 
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 
explanation floating around out there—

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Xi Jinping is out of power. 
As in, totally out of power. 

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And General Zhang Youxia, 
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. 
Because now there’s a new guy at the top.  

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

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And Xi has certainly made himself 
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 
Communist Party have had enough.

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And there certainly have been 
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 
Xi have obviously not always panned out.

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

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

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

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Officials at all levels, 
particularly in the military,  

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are still being told to study 
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 
a narrative around it to sway public opinion. 

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If Xi really were out of power, you wouldn’t 
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 
another 5 years as China’s supreme leader. 

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

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signs that there are bigger purges ahead. Not just 
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, 
but it’s highly unusual. 

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In fact, unlike the military 
purges that happen every decade,  

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

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

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

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

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

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all the influence campaigns targeting foreign 
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 
more important than the United Front. Because it’s  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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You know what that means.

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

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live by the power struggle, 
die by the power struggle. 

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

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purged officials falling left and right? 
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.