Victoria Herczegh
Over the past week, Chinese President Xi Jinping intensified his sweeping crackdown on public officials, expelling Vice Adm. Li Hanjun, chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army Navy, and Liu Shipeng, deputy chief engineer at state-owned China National Nuclear Corp., from the National People’s Congress. Neither had been previously reported as under investigation. Additionally, Miao Hua, a former top general tasked with overseeing the PLA’s ideological work, was voted out of the Central Military Commission. Miao had already made headlines last November when authorities placed him under investigation for “suspected serious violations of discipline and law” – a more severe and rare charge than routine corruption. The scale and intensity of the purge suggest that Xi may have lost trust even in his own appointees within the Chinese Communist Party.
However, his own position as paramount leader may not be so secure. Xi disappeared from public view for more than two weeks in late May and early June, a highly unusual occurrence for a Chinese leader, particularly during a busy diplomatic period. When he reappeared, he reportedly looked tired and disengaged, prompting speculation about his health or political troubles. More recently, he skipped the BRICS summit on July 6-7 in Rio de Janeiro, despite the fact that China views and promotes the bloc as an important counterweight to Western-dominated institutions such as the G7 or the International Monetary Fund.
An undisclosed health condition is not impossible (Xi turned 72 last month), but political difficulties are a likelier explanation. Evidence of political erosion is visible in state media and official communications from the Foreign Ministry and the State Council, where references to “Xi Jinping Thought” as the CCP’s guiding principle have fallen sharply. During Xi’s two-week absence, moreover, a major State Council event not only went ahead without him but made no reference to him. This is extremely unusual: CCP protocol says that if the country’s paramount leader cannot attend an event, officials should be reminded of his position and his official political doctrine.
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