Part 2: “Should the State Media Be Loyal to the Party?”
The Preface and Part 1 of this series explained that former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Jiang Zemin left two legacies to China: a system of corruption and the persecution of Falun Gong. To prevent being charged and held accountable, Jiang and his followers tried to hold onto their power after Jiang retired. They even plotted coups against the current leader Xi Jinping, who is not part of Jiang’s faction.
Part 1: Plots to Overthrow Xi Jinping
As the Preface of this series pointed out, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) officialdom system lacks an established mechanism to enable a new leader to appoint his own people and remove those who are not. The new leader has to find ways to build up his team. [1]
Preface: The CCP’s Political Structure Fosters Political Rivalry
Some Western observers feel that Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign is somehow confusing. It seems to them that, in addition to containing the widespread corruption in China, Xi also uses this campaign to purge officials who rival him politically.
Xinhua and other Chinese media recently reported, with great calm, “Putin criticized Lenin. He said, ‘Lenin’s ideas eventually led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.'” [1]
The report of Putin’s statement may turn out to be an event of some consequence in China’s ideological history. Lenin was the founder of Communism in Russia and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) inherited that legacy. To the CCP conservatives, criticizing Lenin is the same as denouncing Mao Zedong, the first generation leader of the CCP. It undermines the very pillar of the CCP’s legitimacy. Thus it is definitely a taboo in China.
Xi Jinping and Wang Qishan’s “tiger” hunt (anti-corruption campaign) has entered its fourth year since Xi took the reins of China in late 2012.
Whether or not they had anticipated it at the very beginning, this “tiger” fight has turned into a life and death business.
By Weiguang Zhong
There used to be a “Wenhua China” (文化中國). Western scholars such as John King Fairbank have observed and described it. I would like to re-raise the issue and take a look at how China evolved from that to a modern state, a politics-centric state, and later a Party-centric state.
I hope this article can offer people a new angle to re-look at China and re-think its future.