0:00:00.080,0:00:03.600
Xi Jiping is in a life or death power struggle.
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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 [br]generals, has been purged.
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And if we’re talking about purges
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and [br]clandestine power struggles at the highest ranks
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of the Chinese Communist [br]Party,
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you know what that means!
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It’s time for another episode of the People’s [br]favorite Communist soap opera—
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General Hostility.
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Previously on General Hostility,
0:00:43.110,0:00:44.770
after more [br]than a decade in power,
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Xi Jinping has purged millions of Chinese Communist officials
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in his so-called anti-corruption campaign.
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But anti-corruption is just a front
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for Xi’s [br]true intentions!
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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
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. And then trying to take over the world!
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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
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, 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. .
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It happens every 10-15 years
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In 1959, Mao Zedong purged Marshal Peng Dehuai,
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China’s Defense Minister at the time
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. Why? Because Peng resisted Mao’s cult of personality.
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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,
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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
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led to another round of purges.
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When Jiang Zemin came to power in [br]the 90s,
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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.
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It’s on their list, along with genociding
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a religious and/or ethnic minority of their [br]choice,
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and trying to take over the world.
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When Xi Jinping became the leader of the [br]CCP,
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he was in a massive power struggle
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with a political faction tied to former CCP [br]leader
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and current pickled toad Jiang Zemin.
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So of course he purged all the military [br]officials promoted under Jiang.
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Well, almost all of the military officials.
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Xi purged General Guo Boxiong,
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who was in charge of military development
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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, . In 2019, he was put in charge of China’s Eastern Command
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. 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
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in China’s Central Military Commission—
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that’s the group that controls [br]the military.
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The number one position is, obviously Xi Jinping.
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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,
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you’d think Zhang Youxia ,
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who was promoted by the generals appointed by [br]Xi Jinping’s arch enemy,
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would be way more likely.
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So why was it He Weidong?
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Well, since this is the opaque world of inner Communist Party politics
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, 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,.
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this [br]created a lot of overlap.
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Redundancies
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So with Generals Zhang Youxia and He Weidong,[br]“.”
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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.
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So it'sbasically 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.
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So, a major Xi ally in the military.
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. And he [br]got purged.
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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 —
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a 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
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that could threaten his interests.”
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Life as a CCP official sounds very [br]stressful. ,
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If you don’t get enough power you get purged
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. If you get too much [br]power, you also get purged
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. If you even look like you might be getting [br]too much power,
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you still get purged.
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So if you’re about to get purged, .
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what can you [br]do to save yourself?
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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,
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made sweeping accusations of disloyalty.
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How sweeping?
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He accused around 1,300 people at [br]all ranks of the Chinese military of disloyalty,
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including people above him,
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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].
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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.
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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,.
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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 .
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have obviously not always panned out
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And looking at Chinese state-run media,
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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,
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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,
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they create [br]a narrative around it to sway public opinion.
0:08:02.960,0:08:05.215
If Xi really were out of power,
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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, “
0:08:17.478,0:08:21.720
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.
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In fact, there are signs that there are bigger purges ahead.
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Not just [br]in the military, but throughout the entire CCP.
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Last month two CCP officials switched jobs.
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Now, 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,
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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,
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because it’s in charge of influencing
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and subverting others for the CCP.
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Both [br]inside China and internationally.
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For example, all the influence campaigns targeting foreign [br]politicians
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are run by the United Front.
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These pandas? United Front operatives.
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But the Central Organization Department
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is even [br]more important than the United Front.
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Because it’s essentially the Human Resources Department
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for [br]the CCP. .
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Except this HR Department can purge you
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So if Xi Jinping is moving Shi Taifeng,
0:09:39.970,0:09:42.320
who’s considered one of his allies,
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to head the Central Organization Department,
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that’s pretty big.
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Personnel issues are now a bigger priority for Xi
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than the United [br]Front’s influence and subversion campaigns.
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According to SinoInsider,
0:09:56.030,0:09:58.910
“The move foreshadows a [br]sweeping purge
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or reassignment of officials in the Party,
0:10:01.369,0:10:03.540
the government, and the military,
0:10:03.540,0:10:06.320
as well as major personnel changes.”
0:10:06.320,0:10:08.000
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.
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Will Xi start an earthquake inside the CCP,
0:10:23.680,0:10:26.230
purged officials falling left and right?
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Or will he himself finally be toppled?
0:10:30.560,0:10:36.080
Find out next time, on General Hostility.
0:10:36.080,0:10:39.840
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0:10:41.120,0:10:44.880
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0:10:44.880,0:10:48.400
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0:10:48.400,0:10:51.486
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0:10:53.888,0:10:55.840
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0:10:55.840,0:10:58.320
Once again I’m Chris Chappell, see you next time.