Leadership Infighting Emerges in Chinese Military Mouthpiece
PLA Daily articles hint big changes afoot in Chinese government and military
In keeping with Mao Zedong’s famed maxim that “power comes out of the barrel of the gun,” the Chinese leader is normally the chairman of the Central Military Commission, comprising a handful of officials who control the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Currently that is President Xi Jinping, although over recent weeks the Chinese leader has disappeared and reappeared in public view, with many meetings chaired not by him but by subordinates, triggering fresh scrutiny over whether he may be forced to relinquish at least some of his power.
Those questions have triggered new analysis of a spate of articles on the front page of the print version of the PLA Daily, the military mouthpiece, explicitly talking of internal conflict within the top military leadership. A July 22 front page commentary by an unnamed commentator, for instance, even said major changes are occurring in the ruling Chinese Communist Party and PLA, announcing that “Currently, there are complex and deep changes in the global situation, the country, the party and military” and adding that “Our military faces complicated political challenges.”
Party members, especially cadres, must not be ambiguous in their stance, the commentary admonished, “and even more, not speak out of two mouths and be two-faced.” Cadres, it continued, must change their thinking and truly root out wrong thinking. They must strictly carry out the policies of the Central Military Commission chairman and struggle against all politically incorrect people. The prime responsibility of cadres is loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party, it declared, which didn’t mention Xi.
A day before, a front-page commentary said the Central Military Commission recently issued new rules to “completely eliminate poisonous influences” and rectify political thinking. This by an unnamed commentator didn’t name anyone associated with the ‘poisonous influence’ or mention Xi, which raises the question whether the Communist leader or a rival faction is the source of poisonous influence.
Previously, Chinese government statements calling for the eradication of ‘poisonous influences’ have named the sources, like Zhou Yongkang, formerly China’s top law enforcement official who is serving life imprisonment for corruption.
A PLA Daily front page article on July 27 by a writer named Wang Jian used a historical analogy to allude to infighting at the very top of China’s leadership. The article cited Zhang Guotao, a Chinese Communist leader who, on October 5, 1935, set up an alternate leadership in rivalry with Mao. As the article related, Zhang Guotao tried to win over Zhu De, the top military leader under Mao, but Zhu De refused. The article praised Zhu De’s loyalty to Mao. Subsequently, Zhang Guotao and Mao went their separate ways, with Zhang Guotao defecting to the rival Nationalist party in 1938, then finally retiring to subsequently die in Canada. Again, the PLA Daily article of July 27 did not mention Xi.
Some articles ignore Xi, others support him
“Now some commentators seem to be snubbing Xi, as in a PLA Daily article recalling the fissure between Mao and Zhang Guotao. If the PLA Daily is calling for unity, it is not necessarily unity under Xi,” said Willy Lam, a senior fellow of the Jamestown Foundation, a US think tank.
The infighting within China’s top brass, as made explicit in the above articles, confirm an Asia Sentinel report on June 5 that the nation’s military leadership is in civil war. Admiral Miao Hua, an ally of Xi, has been removed from the Central Military Commission, said the report. The question arises as to which top brass is opposing Xi.
A Xinhua website currently lists five members of the Central Military Commission, including Xi as chairman, followed by two vice chairmen, General Zhang Youxia and General He Weidong. The disappearance of General He, an ally of Xi, means he is effectively no longer on the commission. At the cremation ceremony of General Xu Qiliang, a former Central Military Commission vice chairman, in Beijing on June 8, General He did not attend nor send a wreath, indicating he is seriously ill, in prison, or dead.
The remaining two members of the commission are General Zhang Shengmin and General Liu Zhenli. Zhang Shengmin is believed to be an ally of Zhang Youxia, while Liu is possibly an ally of Zhang Youxia, as Asia Sentinel reported on June 5. Accordingly, a faction led by General Zhang Youxia in the Central Military Commission may possibly be struggling against Xi.
A PLA Daily front page commentary on July 23 praised two late generals, Tan Zheng and Huang Kecheng. The commentary, written by an unnamed commentator, lauded Tan for not “blindly obeying” and “blindly agreeing” with superiors. Tan was praised for “struggling against wrong thinking in the party.” Huang criticized Mao’s 1950s economic disaster, the Great Leap Forward, for which he was stripped of his military and political posts. Huang was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s but rehabilitated in the late 1970s. The commentary said cadres should “dare to confront contradictions” and “fearlessly expose problems.” This commentary also did not mention Xi.
Even though the political picture in China is unclear, the fact that some commentators in PLA Daily did not mention Xi “is definitely a big minus for Xi,” said Lam. However, some recent front-page articles continue to express support. For example, most of the July 30 front page articles do mention Xi, including a commentary which mentions him, saying cadres should not enjoy special privileges and must teach their relatives not to take advantage of the cadres’ positions.
“The article quotes Xi, but does not mention Xi thought,” Lam observed.
The PLA Daily has carried articles from Xinhua which do mention Xi. For instance, the paper on July 29 published on its front page an article approved by Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang, which reported Xi gave “important instructions” in tackling the heavy rains affecting certain parts of China.
These commentaries carry more weight than Xinhua articles, Lam said, adding that Xi exerts tighter control over the newspaper. “Xi’s grip (of the PLA) has become less tight. It began with his losing total control of the appointments and dismissals of top generals,” he said.
As an example, the Chinese government announced that two former defense ministers, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, were expelled from the party and faced charges on the same day, as Asia Sentinel reported on June 29.