Is Xi Jinping Losing Control of the Military?

Rumors are swirling that Xi Jinping is losing control over the Chinese military. Welcome to China Uncensored. I’m Chris Chappell. Remember, we have won our fight against Apple, so you can now download your exclusive China Uncensored app. I’ll leave a link below. So, rumors have been flying on social media! Saying that Chinese leader Xi Jinping is losing his grip on power, With all sorts of crazy purges going on in the military, Including in the highest ranks The Hill says China’s military is going to war against itself. Like a Pokemon under a novice trainer, it hurt itself in its confusion. Meanwhile, Newsweek has reported that a top Chinese military official close to Xi is rumored to have been arrested, Thus massively undermining Xi’s authority and prestige. People are noticing that Xi is looking older Pale, and he seems to have put on some weight. Look at his tummy! He’s looking more and more like Redacted. I’d say who this is, but Xi wouldn’t like it. Seriously, don’t share this. But as always, dealing with the clandestine internal politics of the CCP is never a simple matter. Xi Jinping has made many enemies, and sometimes they like to spread rumors, especially in Western media. Which is of course why you come to China Uncensored. We’ve been doing this over a decade. There’s a lot of problems with this story. Let’s start with that Chinese military official who was supposedly arrested—He Weidong . He is vice chairman of the Central Military Commission or CMC— a five-member body overseen by Xi that controls the People’s Liberation Army. He is also the former head of China’s Eastern Theater Command, which is responsible for operations relating to Taiwan, and a vital instrument for Xi’s military purges in the past. And now it seems like the purger got purged. Which is almost as shocking as China’s anti-corruption taskforce being corrupt. Did I say “shocking?” I meant predictable. The rumors say that authorities reportedly searched He’s Beijing and Shanghai residences after the end of the Two Sessions on March 11th. Some say He is now being held at 301 Military Hospital , where the CCP detains political opponents. As evidence, many Chinese netizens point out He’s absence from a March 14 symposium marking the 20th anniversary of the Chinese anti-secession law. They say this proves He was sacked. Man, you know you live in a dystopian nightmare when you skip a party and everyone takes it as proof you’ve been purged. Now, if true, this could represent a major blow to Xi. After all, it was Xi who oversaw He’s promotion from Eastern Theater commander to CMC vice chair, even though He never served as a CMC member before. People in China get promoted for loyalty, not competence. But if he’s been purged, that means Xi is turning on his own people. His fall would lead to the fall of others, forcing Xi to move beyond a factional model for control, just as Mao Zedong had to do. But, the thing is, people in He’s position don’t have to attend that symposium. There isn’t a rule dictating that a second-ranked CMC vice chair like He must attend. So his absence is not a good reason to suppose that anything bad has happened to him. But, there are other rumors. So maybe China’s military is still going to war against itself? Netizens say that one to two hundred senior officials got sacked or transferred alongside He, Including He’s secretary and Zhao Keshi , the former head of the CMC General Logistics Department, which oversaw military logistics, supplies, and infrastructure. There’s also the Western Theater Command Deputy Commander, multiple military generals from Fujian Province, the Eastern Theater Navy Commander, the CMC Science and Technology Commission Deputy Director, and the Military Affairs Office Director. All purged. People even say PLA Rocket Force commander Wang Houbin , who was just appointed in 2023, was purged. So these rumors are getting very specific. But there’s no evidence for any of this beyond some unnamed secret source with who knows what motivations. One telltale sign of a purge would be if certain names were scrubbed from the Chinese internet and media. But, as of this recording, Chinese state-run media hasn’t scrubbed references to He. Neither have Chinese government websites. Meanwhile, PLA Rocket Force commander Wang Houbin is still up in the People’s Daily… …although not on China’s Ministry of National Defense website, for some reason. So there is that. Another piece of evidence given to support the purges is that no CMC vice chairman accompanied Xi on his tours to Guizhou and Yunnan. Certainly, that’s a sign that something is up. Well, it is unusual. According to public reports, at least one CMC vice chairman accompanied Xi 15 out of the 16 times when Xi inspected central or regional military units since November 2022. But according to SinoInsider , a China consultancy that specializes in internal Chinese politics, there are a few possible explanations for why there was no CMC vice chairman. One, He and his co-vice chair Zhang Youxia were too busy with more important matters. Like leading political study sessions and overseeing anti-corruption investigations in the military. It could also be that Xi doesn’t think it matters to have a CMC vice chairman accompany him. The point is, there are so many alternate explanations for there being no CMC vice chairman on these tours that it isn’t even worth citing as proof of a shake-up in the military. And there’s a reason this is very important for us. But first I want to talk about Xi’s appearance. This wouldn’t be the first time people heavily scrutinized Xi’s appearance. Last summer, people saw this photo… and thought this was proof that… Xi had brain surgery for a stroke. Which is insane. His appearance doesn’t suggest there’s something wrong with his brain. It’s his actions over the past decade. But we’ve seen since then that Xi was acting perfectly normally… as far as normal goes for mass murdering, megalomaniacal tyrants. But there’s other evidence that Xi is losing his grip. What about the commentaries that the PLA Daily published between July and December last year? Doesn’t all this talk of upholding party principles… Collective leadership… Intra-party democracy… And team unity prove that Xi’s hold over the PLA is weakening? After all, these articles and others say, “Individuals ‘do not set the tone’ before meetings, ‘do not make the final decision’ in discussions, and ‘do not settle things conclusively’ when drafting resolutions” Sounds like the PLA’s taking jabs at Xi Jinping’s iron fisted one-man leadership over China. Except, if you look at the articles, they actually align with Xi’s agenda. They promote compliance, not a challenge, to Xi’s rule using classic Leninist language. They’re essentially saying they need to be a democracy where everyone has a voice, and those voices will all say, “Xi is our unquestioned leader, Now, I’m not completely ruling out the possibility that He is being investigated. CMC Political Work Department director Miao Hua was purged, and He is…was…Miao’s direct superior. Former head of the CMC General Logistics Department Zhao Keshi likewise could be under investigation, especially since he rose up the ranks during the reign of Xi Jinping’s rivals, the Jiang Zemin faction, and since his General Logistics Department was Jiang-faction-controlled. My default position is to wait until we get verified information. Since as a journalist, jumping the gun is as good as jumping the shark. It’s hard to independently corroborate rumors, especially when they involve something as opaque as inner Chinese politics. Here’s the danger. People could easily come out of all this assuming that Xi Jinping is losing power over the military… And that China’s too destabilized by corruption and factional power politics to do something as crazy as an invasion of Taiwan. The conclusion: This is “Xi Jinping’s ‘collapse’ moment”. China’s so busy tearing itself apart that we don’t need to worry about countering China! Let’s all let our guards down and throw a party. We can even let China supply the balloons. But don’t be fooled. Political infighting and purges happen all the time, but that doesn’t stop China from being a threat. China has the biggest navy in the world, And it’s continuing to build it up at breakneck speed. You don’t taunt a tiger because you heard it *might* have a thorn in its paw. China’s also ramping up incursions into Taiwanese territory, Constructing a command center 10 times larger than the Pentagon, Building up its nuclear arsenal, and more. If there are purges, then that’s proof that Xi’s *strengthening* his grip in power, not losing it. Xi could simply replace purged officials with even more loyalists. Another example of him failing upwards. Every indication shows that Xi still has the reins of power. Chinese propaganda has been doubling down on Xi’s cult of personality leadership, And given that Xi has yet to designate a successor, it’s likely Xi plans on continuing a very, very long political career. In a democracy. Where everyone has a voice. That totally supports him. So rise up in one voice and show your support To the new China uncensored app! And as you know, for months now you’ve been helping China Uncensored fight YouTube suppression and Apple censorship. Well, you’ve won! At least the Apple part. 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