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.
Several recent events seem to indicate that China’s President Xi Jinping is taking a softer approach when handling international affairs. Media and political observers have become aware of several instances and discussed them, but there has not been much analysis of the underlying reasons.
[Editor:The following is a speech that Yongfeng Peng gave on October 1, 2015, at a presentation titled, “The Future of Human Rights in China.” Peng is a lawyer who practiced in China before coming to the United States. He currently works for the Human Rights Law Foundation in Washington, D.C.]