The Zhongnanhai War on Wang Xiaohong—Can Xi Jinping Hold On?

A wave of personnel reshuffles. Inside the Ministry of Public Security, the target is clear. The net is tightening around Wang Xiaohong. With the fifth plenum drawing near, Zhongnanhai faces an all-out war for survival. Welcome back to Final War with Catherine Hu. Wang Xiaohong and Cai Qi are the two most important pillars of Xi's power. Since March, we've heard repeated reports that both men are under investigation. But breaking apart the core power structure that has dominated Chinese politics was never going to be easy. After countless rounds of confrontation of struggle between the two rival centers of power, Wang and Cai are now losing ground on every front. Let's start with Wang Xiaohong. Right now, threats are coming at him from every direction. Ever since the Yu Menglong incident a year ago, the ruthless way Wang handled it has made him notorious around the world. And now, a full reckoning for Wang no longer seems far away. On September 9th, 2026, the CCP's mouthpiece Xinhua News Agency published a very brief State Council notice on personnel appointments and removals. It announced that Qin Yunbiao had been appointed Vice Minister of Public Security. That same day, the leadership page on the Ministry of Public Security's official website was updated. Qin Yunbiao was now listed as a member of the ministry's party committee and a vice minister, while still serving as Beijing's vice mayor and police chief. This appointment immediately raises a question. Who exactly is Qin Yunbiao? And why was he suddenly placed at Wang Xiaohong's side? In fact, the order for this appointment came directly from the central decision-making and coordinating body. Before former premier Li Keqiang retired, he moved Qin into the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau as a deputy director. The purpose was to counter Wang Xiaohong's influence inside the bureau. Then, after party elder Wen Jiabao returned to the political stage, Wen quickly promoted Qin to director of the bureau, further weakening Wang's power base in Beijing. Now, Wen Jiabao has gone one step further. He has placed Qin in the Ministry of Public Security as a vice minister while keeping him in his post as Beijing's police chief. The goal is to gain tighter control over the ministry and stop Wang Xiaohong from mobilizing Beijing's police forces on his own. And Qin was not the only official the state council brought into the ministry's leadership to keep Wang Xiaohong in check. It also appointed another official, Gao Qi, to the ministry's party committee and made him its counterterrorism commissioner. Gao Qi came up through the ranks during the Hu Jintao-Wen Jiabao era, but under Xi, he was largely sidelined. After Wen returned to the political stage, he put Gao in charge of counterterrorism, with a particular focus on investigating the Southeast Asian criminal groups controlled by Wang Xiaohong. Since then, Gao has done much of the groundwork needed to bring Wang down. And here's the really ridiculous part. Wang Xiaohong's latest public appearance was at the launch of the International Alliance Against Telecommunications and Online Fraud, and he even gave a speech. Of course, in China, the thief shouting catch the thief has become so common that no one is surprised anymore. Even before these latest appointments, three of Wang Xiaohong's closest allies had already been transferred away from him in just three months. From June to September, they were Tan Chuan, an assistant minister of public security, Yue Xiuhu, the vice minister-level counterterrorism commissioner personally promoted by Wang, and Hua Liebing, party secretary and director of the ministry's second bureau, which investigates economic crimes. Yue Xiuhu is especially important here. He came out of the Yunnan Provincial Public Security Department, and was the man directly responsible for helping Wang Xiaohong control Southeast Asian criminal gangs and telecom scam networks. So three of Wang Xiaohong's top lieutenants inside the ministry have now been moved out. At the same time, two new deputies have been brought in specifically to keep him in check and investigate him. Wang is clearly in serious trouble on every front. Taken together, these signs point to one conclusion. The chances are now extremely high that Wang will be forced out after the fifth plenum this October. What does the standoff inside Zhongnanhai look like right now? Let's start with the man who always takes center stage on this show and see how he's been doing lately. Xi has had an incredibly busy travel schedule. From September 12th to 13th, he is scheduled to travel to India for the BRICS leaders meeting. Remember, this comes right after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit and his visit to Egypt. And according to will also visit the United States at the end of September. Put it all together, Xi will spend nearly half of September away from Beijing. Three overseas trips in a single month. In all 14 years, Xi has been in power. This has never happened before. Think about the timing. Just one month from now, the CCP will hold its fifth plenum in Beijing, a life or death political test for Xi. That meeting will also determine the most important personnel changes ahead of next year's 21st Party Congress. At a moment like this, Xi should be staying in Beijing, not leaving again and again. And yet, in the final month before the October plenum, his overseas travel has suddenly accelerated. He is being forced to repeatedly leave Beijing, the stronghold where he feels safest. And he also has to take his most loyal lieutenant, Tsai Chi, with him. Whenever a major personnel shakeup is approaching inside the CCP, top officials across its ministries and commissions rarely dare to leave their posts. They usually cut back their schedules, stay in their offices, and go nowhere until everything is settled. If they leave at the wrong moment, someone could make a move against them while they are away. Xi and Tsai both know this unwritten rule very well. But under the current circumstances, with both Xi and Tsai Chi traveling abroad, Xi would have no trusted eyes and ears left inside Zhongnanhai to watch what was happening in his absence. And then there is Xi's health. Two years ago, in July 2024, Xi suffered a health crisis during the third plenum. After that, long flights became a real risk to his health, and he quietly began traveling abroad far less often. What is really going on behind the scenes? The answer is pretty clear. The CCP's conservative faction wants to keep Xi running from one place to another, so he cannot interfere with what the party elders are planning back in Beijing. They are now working out the major decisions that will determine where the CCP goes next. This is essentially the strategy of luring the tiger away from the mountain, the 15th of ancient China's famous 36 stratagems. The key is the word lure. You lure the tiger away from its own mountain. In other words, you draw your opponent away from his stronghold, giving yourself the chance to make your move and achieve your goal. So the strategy is simple. Xi is obsessed with his great power diplomacy, so they are using it to keep him traveling from one country to another, and most importantly, out of Beijing. At this point, even when Xi is not feeling well, he does not dare slow down. He can only grit his teeth and keep running himself ragged. Let's take one final look at where things now stand. Xi's closest loyalists from the Fujian faction, the men he has relied on for years, are all struggling to save themselves. Wang Xiaohong, who controlled the security forces Xi relied on, has now been sidelined and stripped of his power to mobilize the people's armed police. Cai Qi, who ran the party affairs and propaganda machine for Xi, is now under investigation, and his authority as director of the CCP general office exists in name only. Chen Xi, the man who helped Xi plan his political moves, has already been pushed into retirement. Now that Xi has lost the men who served as his left and right arms, how much longer can this trembling supreme leader stay on his feet? On the surface, Xi still looks like the man in charge, but the team that kept him in power is falling apart. How much longer can this increasingly unsteady supreme leader hold on? Get the real story behind the CCP's shifting power games and see where U.S.-China relations are headed next. Support the vision of a new China without communism. Subscribe now and join us in bringing the truth to light.