Hong Kong Oriental Network published a commentary on three major campaigns that Xi Jinping has conducted in the past five years since he took the top leadership role in China. All these battles were against established interest groups and were met with many objections; yet Xi has been able to carry on the fight.
The first one was whether the (head of the) Party directs the “gun” or the “gun” directs the Party. During Hu Jintao’s era, Hu did not have control over the military or the police and the legal system. Guo Boxiong, Xu Caihou (two Vice Chairmen of the Central Military Commission) and Zhou Yongkang (head of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee) had the real power and ignored Hu. Xi fought several fierce battles to take them down and reclaim control.
The second one was whether the (head of the) Party directs the “money” or the “money” directs the Party. Though huge wealth has been generated in China, it has largely been concentrated in the hands of the families of high-ranking officials. For example, businessmen Che Feng (the son-in-law of Dai Xianglong, former Central Bank Governor and Tianjin Major), Xiao Jianhua (said to be linked to former top official Zeng Qinghong’s son Zeng Wei), Wu Xiaohui (ex-husband of Deng Xiaoping’s grand granddaughter and said to have connections with Zeng Qinghong), and Huang Rulun (said to have a good connection with a former top official Jia Qinglin) have, through their political connections, not only accumulated huge wealth, but also a lot of political power.
The third battle is whether to let the people have money or to let officials have money. Before Xi, it was the officials, not the people, who accumulate a lot of wealth. Xi has been trying to limit the officials’ power and has asked them to report their wealth.
Source: Oriental Network, June 26, 2017
http://hk.on.cc/hk/bkn/cnt/commentary/20170626/bkn-20170626000914761-0626_00832_001.html