In keeping with Mao Zedong’s famed maxim that “power comes out of the barrel of the gun,” the Chinese leader is normally the chairman of the Central Military Commission, comprising a handful of officials who control the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Currently that is President Xi Jinping, although over recent weeks the Chinese leader has disappeared and reappeared in public view, with many meetings chaired not by him but by subordinates, triggering fresh scrutiny over whether he may be forced to relinquish at least some of his power.
Those questions have triggered new analysis of a spate of articles on the front page of the print version of the PLA Daily, the military mouthpiece, explicitly talking of internal conflict within the top military leadership. A July 22 front page commentary by an unnamed commentator, for instance, even said major changes are occurring in the ruling Chinese Communist Party and PLA, announcing that “Currently, there are complex and deep changes in the global situation, the country, the party and military” and adding that “Our military faces complicated political challenges.”
Party members, especially cadres, must not be ambiguous in their stance, the commentary admonished, “and even more, not speak out of two mouths and be two-faced.” Cadres, it continued, must change their thinking and truly root out wrong thinking. They must strictly carry out the policies of the Central Military Commission chairman and struggle against all politically incorrect people. The prime responsibility of cadres is loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party, it declared, which didn’t mention Xi.
A day before, a front-page commentary said the Central Military Commission recently issued new rules to “completely eliminate poisonous influences” and rectify political thinking. This by an unnamed commentator didn’t name anyone associated with the ‘poisonous influence’ or mention Xi, which raises the question whether the Communist leader or a rival faction is the source of poisonous influence.
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