Xi’s Purge Backfires: Has China’s Dictator Lost Control of His Own Army?

Xi Jinping's growing paranoia about loyalty is leaving him isolated and it could lead to his ruin. Welcome to China uncensored. I'm Chris Chapel. The thing about communism is that it has infighting and backstabbing baked in. It's like mean girls on steroids. And in this deadly dance of domination, Xi Jinping may be nursing a viper next to his breast. I'll tell you who it is. But real quick, before we get into that, let's check in with some of the people YouTube has secretly unsubscribed this week. This guy says, "Third time I had to resubscribe this year. Something keeps unsubscribing me to your channel." Manny Payne said, "I had to resubscribe." And Scott says, "I had to subscribe twice. Been watching for years." Thanks, YouTube. So, be sure to subscribe and maybe resubscribe. Please also leave a honeypot emoji in the comments below for the algorithm and to show YouTube we know why their fingers are so sticky. So yeah, she's got a serious threat close to home. His name is Jang Yoshia. He's a top general and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. The guy's in charge of the party's gun, the People's Liberation Army. Now, if you've been watching the show, you might be surprised to hear me say that Jang Yoshia is a threat to Xi Jinping. If you haven't been watching, shame on you. And I'll give you a quick recap. Lately, the rumor mill has been working overtime, saying that Xi Jinping had been purged by Jang Yoshia with the backing of party elders. The supposed evidence of this was the purge of nine top generals who were considered Xi Jinping allies, including Hi Dong, the other vice chairman of the CMC. Xi Jinping is obviously the chairman. So surely the purge of Shei's allies was because she didn't actually do it. He'd been purged and Jang Yoshia really did it. and she would officially step down last week during the fourth plenum major meeting of top party officials. Obviously, that didn't happen. It was all bunk. All of the rumors that have been going around all year about she losing power or having a debilitating stroke, which has happened like five times now, are bunk. Check out this episode for a full rundown of it. But Jang Yoshia is still a threat to Shei. Or at least she certainly thinks he could be. How do I know? Let me walk you through it. But first, if you like this kind of deep dive into what's really going on in China, you've got to subscribe to my premium website, chinaunensored.tv. That's where you'll see episodes and live streams we can't put on YouTube. And if you want to support China Uncensored, buying a membership is the best way you can. It's just the price of a bag of coffee. Once again, that's chinaunensored.tv. So, as I said before, ahead of the fourth plenum, nine top generals were purged, including the three from the Central Military Commission. But here's where the inner workings of the Chinese Communist Party are truly revealed in the wake of the purges. The question was, would she fill those missing slots at the fourth plenum? He did, but only one with this guy, Jang Shang Min. He's another she ally, not that that means much anymore, the head of the CMC discipline inspection commission. And now he's the new vice chairman. And this is how I know that she doesn't trust Jang Yosha. None of the other generals that were purged were replaced, at least not yet. But Kwei Dong, vice chairman of the CMC, was. Why? Well, you see, the thing about communism is that it's based on backstabbing, betrayal, and struggle. Even if Jang Yosha is loyal now, that's no guarantee he won't turn on Xi in the future. If Jang Yosha were allowed to be the only vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, that means he would be the guy in charge of all the day-to-day operations of the entire People's Liberation Army. According to Sino Insider, a risk consultancy that specializes in elite Chinese politics, that would present Jang with opportunities to expand and entrench his influence and potentially become a political risk to the shei leadership. She can't have that. So, he made sure that Jang was not the only one in charge of the PLA, not even for a short while. Let me give you a historical example that really shaped how the CCP operates. The story of Lin Bowo. Lin Bao was Mao Zadong's right-hand man. He was also responsible for purging anyone who questioned Mao, particularly in the military. And fun fact, Lynn also put together Mao's little red book. Lynn was anointed as Mao's successor. In propaganda posters, he was always shown by Mao's side, holding Mao's little red book. But that also meant Lynn was developing his own power base. Eventually, Mao felt threatened enough to have Lynn purged. But before he could, Linbao fled, only to die in a mysterious plane crash over Mongolia. After Lynn's death, the CCP claimed that he had been planning to assassinate Mao in a bunch of creative ways, like blowing up his private train. We still don't know if any of that is true. And even though Lynn was already dead, Mao managed to purge him anyway. Pictures of him were censored. Mao even started a campaign encouraging people to criticize Linbao. Criticize Confucious. How did Confucious get involved? Look, the 70s were a weird time. So, Linda went from chosen son to persona non grata for the CCP practically overnight. It's like the Horus heresy. This fear of betrayal at the top was a major reason that for years communist China didn't have a joint military command. You see, for modern warfare, you need someone organizing all the different branches of the military. The problem is, whoever that person is, he would hold a lot of power and might decide that maybe he should be the guy in charge. So, she was in a pickle. He wanted to turn China into a modern military superpower, which can't be done without a joint command. But he also didn't want to empower someone who might use that power to betray him. His solution was the central military commission. He created it in 2016. You got she at the top is the chairman and below him two vice chairman. One to keep the other in check. And Jang Shang Ming is the guy now keeping Jang Yoshia in check just in case he got too big for his britches. That's why all these rumors about Shei being purged focused on Jang Yoshia. And that's how I know that she is very aware of the threat he represents. But this is communism. The struggle is never ending and the next threat is always just around the corner. So while Jang Yosha will most likely retire at the 21st Party Congress in 2027, he'll be pushing 80 by then. Someone will inevitably fill the role of Shei's next biggest rival. But remember, there were other people purged in the CMC. Their slots were not filled. That tells me the Purgeon ain't done yet, but Xi Jinping may be she will do his best to groom a new batch of loyal officers he feels he can trust. But who can live up to his expectations? This is the same thing that happened to Stalin. Asino insider says over time she's efforts to ensure absolute loyalty to his person will leave him increasingly isolated and detached from reality as officials scramble to pay lip service and scrub out negative information in their reports. She will find himself with even fewer officials whom he can trust and his paranoia is likely to deepen further. I mean I almost feel bad for the guy except for you know he's a communist. But this raises a very interesting question. What will happen after Xi Jinping? He can't live forever. Well, I have an episode coming out soon about that exclusively on my website, chinaunensored.tv. If you don't subscribe there, you'll be missing out. Just click this button to head over or click here for one of the many other free episodes available right here on YouTube. Once again, I'm Chris Chapel. See you next time.