Xi Jinping's Days Are Numbered

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

Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell. 

            
It seems in all likelihood

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I love that show. 

So yes, 

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

Particularly in the military.

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

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

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

That sparked a huge round 
of purges in the military.

Fast forward to the 1970s.

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

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

When Deng Xiaoping led the CCP,  

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

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

You get the idea.

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

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

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

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

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

almost all of the military officials. 

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

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

They had been in charge for a long time,  

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

Xi’s purge was devastating. 

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

And all the top positions 
were now filled with people  

Xi personally promoted for their loyalty to him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

obviously Xi Jinping. 
But the number two position

is Zhang Youxia, the only survivor 

of the purges of General Guo 
Boxiong and General Xu Caihou.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So here’s another explanation.

It has to do with this guy—Miao Hua.

Miao was another member of the 
Central Military Commission,  

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

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

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

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

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

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

Miao could have inadvertently 
cultivated his own power base,  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

including people above him, like He Weidong. 

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

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

And General Zhang Youxia, 
the number two guy in the  

Central Military Commission is really in charge. 

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

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

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

And with the Chinese economy struggling

Young people unable to find work

And a growing trade war with the United States

Maybe enough people within the Chinese 
Communist Party have had enough.

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

But there are some problems with this.

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

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

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

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

Officials at all levels, 
particularly in the military,  

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

Typically in Chinese Communist power struggles,  

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

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

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

at the 21st Party Congress.

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

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

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

Last month two CCP officials switched jobs. Now,  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

These pandas? United Front operatives. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You know what that means.

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

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

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

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

Find out next time, on General Hostility.

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