Search the Community

https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/China-up-close/Analysis-Xi-Jinping-s-plan-to-rule-for-life-is-coming-together?utm_campaign=GL_china_up_close&utm_medium=email&utm_source=NA_newsletter&utm_content=article_link&del_type=9&pub_date=20211022000100&seq_num=2&si=44594 Who will lead China in 2035, when current President Xi Jinping says substantive progress toward correcting the country's income disparity will have been made? (Nikkei montage/Reuters/AP) Xi Jinping's plan to rule for life is coming together Third historical resolution and 2035 'common prosperity' target outline path forward KATSUJI NAKAZAWA, Nikkei senior staff writerOctober 21, 2021 04:25 JST Katsuji Nakazawa is a Tokyo-based senior staff writer and editorial writer at Nikkei. He spent seven years in China as a correspondent and later as China bureau chief. He was the 2014 recipient of the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist prize. TOKYO -- In the span of a few days, two key developments have unfolded in China, both directly connected to the bid by Xi Jinping, the country's president and the party's general secretary, to become leader for life. One is what is called the "third historical resolution," whose content will be made public next month. The other is the emergence of a timetable for Xi's new political goal of "common prosperity." "As German philosophers Georg Hegel and Karl Marx said, history repeats itself," said a Chinese Communist Party source familiar with the party's internal affairs, referring to the third resolution. "There is no doubt that President Xi is aiming to become leader for life, emulating the two figures who issued the first and second resolutions." The source was referring to Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, both of whom wielded power until the day they died. "The other side of the coin is the great political goal of common prosperity," the source said, "which will be pursued carefully over the next 10 or 15 years." Xi Jinping leads top officials in reciting vows, including the issuance of a "third historical resolution," during a gala ahead of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing on June 28. © Kyodo The party's Politburo on Monday decided to hold a key political meeting from Nov. 8 to Nov. 11. The sixth plenary session of the party's 19th Central Committee will deliberate on and adopt a "key resolution on the major achievements and historical experience of the Party's 100 years of endeavors," the Politburo said. This points to the third historical resolution. The party has adopted a resolution on history twice in the past, first in 1945 and again in 1981. The first document, which came four years before the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, was drafted under Mao Zedong. The second was written under Deng Xiaoping, the father of the "reform and opening-up" policy. It denounces the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution under Mao but recognizes some of the leader's achievements. The third resolution on history has a weighty meaning. To put it simply, the new document indicates the possibility of Xi becoming the third great figure in the party's history. Importantly, Mao and Deng continued to be China's supreme leader until their dying breath. Mao temporarily lost power after serious economic mismanagement but made a comeback through the Cultural Revolution. Deng wielded enormous power even after retiring from official posts -- so much so that he could replace any of his successors with one order. Xi's role model is Mao, not Deng. Some party sources have pointed to the fact that after Mao assumed the party's helm at the Zunyi Conference in Guizhou Province in 1935, during the 1934-1936 Long March, he waited for as many as 10 years before issuing the first historical resolution to justify his basic policies, opening the way for him to become a person with absolute power. Writers of historical resolutions Mao Zedong, Xi Jinping and Deng Xiaoping. Mao and Deng wielded power until the day they died. (Source photos by AP and Xinhua/AP) Xi may be looking at a similar timeline. He came to power as the party's general secretary in the autumn of 2012, then assumed the post of Chinese president in the spring of 2013. A decade into his leadership, he is now looking to issue a historical resolution, emulating Mao. As a prelude to the 1945 resolution on history, Mao launched the first Rectification Movement in Yan'an, the party's revolutionary stronghold, in the first half of the 1940s to purge political opponents. In 1945, the same year as the adoption of the first historical resolution, Mao became party chairman, a newly created post and the party's highest. His status as party chairman remained unchanged until he died in 1976. In similar fashion to the Rectification Movement, Xi began a fierce anti-corruption campaign after ascending to power, driving out one foe after another. Xi's anti-corruption campaign is still alive and kicking; the latest takedown of an influential figure came earlier this month. If the current leader does stay on beyond next year's Communist Party National Congress, then "common prosperity" is set to be the era's defining phrase. The Oct. 16 edition of the Qiushi Journal, the party's theoretical publication, carried an August speech by Xi that outlined this new political goal. In it, he pledged to ensure substantive progress toward correcting the nation's income inequality, resulting in equal access to basic public services, by 2035. This marked the first time that a timeline for common prosperity was put forth. What is the significance? Such a grandiose goal cannot be expected to be met by 2027, the end of Xi's expected third term as the party's general secretary, the most powerful position in the country. Hence the buzz about a fourth term, from 2027 to 2032. Earlier this year, the party celebrated the 100th anniversary of its establishment, and Xi declared the completion of a "moderately prosperous society," the political goal dating back to the era of Deng Xiaoping. The new political goal of common prosperity is a successor. The headquarters of China Evergrande Group in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. Will Evergrande become a necessary sacrifice in China's pursuit of common prosperity? © Reuters But what would a common prosperity world look like? So far, not pretty. Since the phrase emerged, the Chinese economy has suffered a significant downturn as investors fear what political moves await. Over the past year, several mysterious incidents have taken place in China. They include the postponement of Ant Group's listing, pressure on ride-hailing giant Didi, a ban on tutoring schools for children of compulsory school age, strict limits on children's online video game playing and the debt crisis of major property developer China Evergrande Group. The common thread that binds all of these developments is common prosperity. With the leader's goal set in stone, common prosperity must be realized at any cost. And if problems arise? Those will be treated as necessary sacrifices. This is just the beginning. Prepare for unprecedented developments as Xi extends his reign.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/China-up-close/Analysis-The-man-who-knew-too-much-of-Xi-s-power-plays-is-out Former Justice Minister Fu Zhenghua, left, has been placed under investigation as President Xi Jinping's team campaigns against "two-faced pretenders." (Source photo by Reuters) Analysis: The man who knew too much of Xi's power plays is out Ex-minister Fu Zhenghua was the engine behind president's anti-corruption drive KATSUJI NAKAZAWA, Nikkei senior staff writerOctober 14, 2021 04:02 JST Katsuji Nakazawa is a Tokyo-based senior staff writer and editorial writer at Nikkei. He spent seven years in China as a correspondent and later as China bureau chief. He was the 2014 recipient of the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist prize. TOKYO -- China's weeklong holiday period that began Oct. 1 with National Day gave ordinary Chinese time to travel and relax. But this time of year also tends to be one of political earthquakes. This year was no different. On Oct. 2, a major heavyweight with direct knowledge of President Xi Jinping's long power struggle abruptly fell from grace. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Chinese Communist Party's top anti-graft body, announced that former Justice Minister Fu Zhenghua has been placed under investigation on suspicion of "serious disciplinary violations." Fu, 66, is an incumbent member of the party's elite Central Committee. The crackdown on an influential figure who has overseen the judiciary and police has sent immeasurable shock waves through China's political world. Fu was behind the investigations that put countless people behind bars. Now that Fu himself has been placed under investigation, doubts could also arise about the legitimacy of his past investigations. It is a momentous development. Fu Zhenghua's success in putting his former boss Zhou Yongkang behind bars contributed greatly to Xi Jinping's political might. © AP "My impression was that he was a technocrat who started with case investigations and rose through the ranks," said one party source. "But this is a case of a man who knew too much. He was forced to leave, in quite a ruthless manner. Now, anything could happen." One example of Fu's work was the investigation into Zhou Yongkang, a former member of the party's top decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee. Until 2012, as the party's ninth-ranking official, Zhou had dominated all of China's judicial and police organizations. But by Oct. 1, 2013, Zhou must have known that the noose was closing. He had built a vast information network through his former subordinates at police organizations and had various channels that fed him sensitive intelligence. That day, Zhou was attending a symposium at the China University of Petroleum, his alma mater, located in a Beijing suburb. He might have thought this would be his last opportunity to speak publicly. In December 2013, two months after the university appearance, the Politburo Standing Committee received a report on clues about his disciplinary violations and decided to place him under full investigation as part of Xi's signature anti-corruption campaign. It was the first crackdown on a former Politburo Standing Committee member, breaking an unwritten party rule. Fu, who was said to be an exceptionally sharp investigator, became a central member of a team established in the summer of 2013 to pursue the case. Zhou Yongkang at the 2012 Communist Party Congress and in 2015 during a court appearance. Fu is a unique figure. When he was serving as Beijing's public security bureau chief, essentially the police chief of the Chinese capital, he was tapped as vice minister at the Ministry of Public Security, which oversees police organizations across the country. He drove his former boss into a corner, and now Zhou is serving a life term after being convicted of corruption. The anti-corruption campaign is the source of Xi's power, and Fu's successful crackdown on Zhou contributed to bolstering the leader's rule. Fu's moves were linked to those by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, which was then headed by Wang Qishan, a longtime Xi ally who currently serves as China's vice president. Fu, who knows the subtleties of the fierce power struggle and related secrets, was recognized for his contributions and subsequently rose through the ranks. In a military parade in Beijing in September 2015, Fu served as a top official in charge of security. Fu was also behind the crackdown against hundreds of human rights lawyers and activists in July 2015, which has come to be known as the "709" incident -- named for the July 9 date it started. In the eyes of those arrested, Fu is a merciless, unsparing official. Despite his proven track record as an elite police bureaucrat and pledge of loyalty to Xi, Fu fell from grace. Why? Aside from specific charges he is facing, which will become clear at a later date, what is noteworthy is his political background as an "outsider." He is not purely a member of the Xi faction. In the eyes of the Xi side, Fu was a competent official but a figure that cannot be completely trusted. Fu became nationally famous after leading a crackdown on Tianshang Renjian, or Heaven on Earth, a well-known luxury nightclub in Beijing. The venue was used to lavishly entertain senior bureaucrats and was linked to corruption among those in political power. Fu launched an investigation into the nightclub as soon as he became Beijing's public security bureau chief in 2010. His predecessors had hesitated to do so. Fu's crackdown on Tianshang Renjian came when Hu Jintao was China's president and Wen Jiabao premier. Ling Jihua tried to cover up his son's scandalous accident, an attempt that because of information provided by Fu backfired against former President Hu Jintao. © Reuters Fu was also deeply involved in dealing with a scandal involving Ling Jihua, who served as head of the party's general office in the era of former President Hu. Ling is now serving a life sentence. In the early hours of March 18, 2012, Ling's son was killed instantly when a Ferrari he was driving at high speed crashed in Beijing. Two women who were in the Ferrari were reportedly either fully or half-naked. Ling, eager to join the Politburo Standing Committee at the party's quinquennial national congress later that year, tried to pull strings to cover up his son's scandalous accident. As Beijing's public security bureau chief, Fu had information about an investigation into the accident. The information eventually affected even the political situation in the run-up to the national congress, where Xi was inaugurated. Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin used the information about Ling's son to condemn the Hu faction, to which Ling belonged, and succeeded in leading the reshuffle of the Politburo Standing Committee in the autumn of 2012, filling the top leadership posts with his cronies. Former presidents Hu Jintao, left, and Jiang Zemin attend the party's National Congress in 2012. Jiang was able to fill the Politburo Standing Committee with his cronies, thanks to the Ling Jihua scandal that weakened the Hu faction. © Reuters Nobody knows more of the secrets behind the big incidents that have rocked Chinese politics in recent years than Fu. And this makes him dangerous to Xi. Xi harbors a long and deep distrust of police organizations. Including Fu, three vice public security ministers have now been detained since Xi's second term as president, which began in 2018. The other two are Meng Hongwei, who was placed under investigation in 2018, and Sun Lijun, who came under scrutiny in 2020. Meng had become the first Chinese president of the International Criminal Police Organization, or ICPO. The public security bureau chiefs of Chongqing and Shanghai have also been subjected to crackdowns. It is safe to say that the top police echelons that have been in charge of public security have completely crumbled. The people who have survived are the friends and acquaintances that Xi has known for many decades and can trust. First and foremost of these figures is Wang Xiaohong, currently the most senior vice minister for public security. When he was still young, Xi spent many years in Fujian Province and got to know Wang there. Xi went on to give Wang key posts in Beijing. They have known each other for more than 30 years. A source in Fujian described Wang as "one of the few old friends President Xi can really trust." Wang is said to be a strong candidate to become the next public security minister. Wang made news at the end of August 2020, when he issued an order concerning political discipline through an official publication related to police. Wang Xiaohong, currently the most senior vice minister for public security, is foremost among those Xi has known for decades and feels he can trust. © Reuters Wang specifically warned that "those who officially pretend to obey but secretly resist and those who are straddling the fence without showing the flag will be thoroughly removed." Wang used the term liangmianren, or two-faced people, to refer to those who in officialdom pretend to obey but secretly resist. The term is also incorporated in the party's disciplinary action regulation. It is a special political term, one Xi has repeatedly used in waging his anti-corruption campaign. A year ago, Wang might have already assumed Fu to be a pretender/resister. Meanwhile, Chen Yixin, a close aide to Xi, currently serves as secretary-general of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, which oversees the judicial and police divisions, including courts and the prosecution. Tang Yijun, also close to Xi, has been tapped to succeed Fu as justice minister. Chen and Tang belong to the "Zhejiang faction," which is made up of those who were Xi's subordinates in Zhejiang Province during the 2000s; they also form the core of the Xi faction. Unlike Fu, Chen and Tang are pure members of the Xi faction. Since becoming China's supreme leader, Xi has spent nine years trying to take full control of police organizations. The question now is whether the crackdown on Fu marks the end of these efforts. Many within the party believe the curtain has not yet fallen. "If Xi seeks perfect political safety," one source said, "the crackdowns will go on forever. There is no end in sight."

https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/China-up-close/China-portrays-Xi-the-Great-tamer-of-floods?utm_campaign=RN Subscriber newsletter&utm_medium=china_up_close_newsletter&utm_source=NAR Newsletter&utm_content=article link&del_type=9&pub_date=20200828004507&seq_num=2&si=44594 Yu the Great became a legendary ruler in China for his introduction of flood control. Will President Xi Jinping be credited for harnessing the floods of 2020? (Nikkei Montage/Source photos by AP and Getty Images) China portrays 'Xi the Great,' tamer of floods President shows who's boss, while premier is sidelined in the mud KATSUJI NAKAZAWA, Nikkei senior staff writerAugust 27, 2020 06:10 JST TOKYO -- Despite serious flood damage in various parts of China, President Xi Jinping had not visited any of the impacted areas. But on Aug. 18, Xi suddenly appeared in flood-hit Anhui Province for an inspection, one that seems to have followed the conclusion of the annual summer gathering of Chinese Communist Party leaders and elders, the Beidaihe meeting. "He must have been warned by elders about the special meaning of flood control in Chinese politics," one party source said. Wearing shiny leather shoes and smiling under the blue Anhui sky, Xi talked with local folks about flood prevention, river management and disaster relief. "The foolish old man removes the mountains, and 'Yu the Great' controlled the waters," Xi said, according to a Xinhua News Agency roundup of the four-day visit. "The Chinese nation has fought against natural disasters for thousands of years and accumulated valuable experience. We should continue to fight," he said, not by fighting against God, but by respecting nature and complying with natural laws. By referring to Yu the Great, a legendary emperor in ancient China who put in place irrigation canals that channeled water to fields, Xi highlighted China's several-thousand-year history of fighting natural disasters. President Xi addresses military personnel assigned to flood-protection duty in Anhui Province. China's history is filled with tales about maintaining or gaining political power by controlling and channeling water. © Xinhua/Kyodo It is true that flood control has been particularly significant in China. Bringing raging rivers under control was so difficult that people who had the ability to harness the waters were fit to become kings or emperors. Failure to control floods meant farmers would suffer and be driven to their deaths. As China's "core" leader, that responsibility today falls on Xi. Furthermore, this year is the Year of Geng Zi, or Metal Rat, which comes once every 60 years and is said to always bring with it a big history-shaking incident, which the superstitious Chinese take seriously. Already, the country has been hit hard by the coronavirus. True to Metal-Rat year form, the outbreak has not been the only calamity. Floods are also causing damage even greater than the floods of 1998. Back then, President Jiang Zemin postponed an official visit to Japan to see to relief efforts in the Yangtze River basin and the northeastern part of the country. It is not hard to imagine that Jiang had a word or two to say about flood control at the Beidaihe meeting. Then President Jiang Zemin in Wuhan, Hubei Province, oversees the response to what in the summer of 1998 was China's worst flooding in 44 years, when storms took more than 2,000 lives and left millions homeless. © AP/Kyodo In fact, many of the party elders are specialists on the topic. Hu Jintao, Xi's immediate predecessor as Chinese president, worked as a hydroelectric power generation-related engineer after graduating from the Water Conservancy Engineering Department of the prestigious Tsinghua University. Wen Jiabao, who served as Chinese premier in the Hu administration, is a geology expert. While in Anhui, Xi also referenced a foolish old man who tried to remove mountains, arming himself with the political connotations of a Chinese fable of an elderly man who lived in northern China. Bothered by two mountains that stood in front of his doorway, blocking the view and the path, the man, with the help of his sons, began digging through them with hoes and baskets. When questioned by another man why he was undertaking such a foolish task, the old man replied that when he dies his sons will carry on, as will his grandsons and then their sons and grandsons, and so on to infinity, ultimately removing the peaks. Impressed by his conviction, God sent down two angels who carried the mountains away on their backs, the tale goes. Mao Zedong, communist China's founding father, was fond of citing this story. When he visited the Soviet Union, Mao told it to Josef Stalin, to counter the tale of the Gigantic Turnip, a Russian folk tale the host had mentioned in preaching the importance of cooperation between the two countries. Russia's President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the Kremlin in March 2013. Former Chinese leader Mao Zedong told Josef Stalin the tale of the foolish old man during a visit to the Soviet Union. © Reuters During the same tour, Xi inspected the floodgates of the Wangjiaba Dam on the Huai River. In 1950, shortly after the People's Republic of China was founded in October 1949, the Huai River, which flows through Anhui, was hit by severe flooding. Mao issued an order to control the floods at any cost. The floodgates Xi visited were quickly constructed on Mao's instructions. Once again, Xi was overlapping himself with Mao, perhaps in preparation for a difficult political situation ahead. Chinese state media played along, publishing a photograph of Xi swaggering and strutting with a smile in front of a wall with Mao's calligraphy inscribed on it. While Xi was in the spotlight, Premier Li Keqiang was visiting another flood-hit area, one about 1,000 km away, but was mostly ignored. It is quite unusual for China's top two leaders to be away from Beijing at the same time on inspection tours. On Aug. 20, two days after Xi arrived in Anhui, Li inspected a flood-affected area of Chongqing as the metropolis was still in the throes of the disaster. Wearing rain boots, Li trudged through muddy waters. Usually, such images receive high praise from citizens, and comments about "the people's premier" staying close to the people fill social media platforms. It is hard to argue that Premier Li Keqiang has not been sidelined. © Chinese government Weibo/Kyodo But not this time. Perhaps this is because many Chinese people were not told of the trip. Li's Chongqing visit was initially reported only by www.gov.cn, the website affiliated with the State Council, the Chinese government headed by him. Major Chinese media outlets such as state-run Xinhua News Agency, state-run China Central Television and party mouthpiece the People's Daily officially reported Li's inspection tour an unusually tardy three to four days later. Furthermore, the major Chinese media outlets treated Li's inspection tour as the fourth most important news item of the day, at best. The reports did not mention when Li visited Chongqing. If they had, questions would have been raised about why the coverage ran so belatedly. Chongqing news outlets also reported the trip after a delay, despite the fact that Chen Min'er, the city's party secretary and a close aide to Xi, accompanied Li on his inspection tour. The downplaying of Li's trip was likely an attempt to play up the Anhui visit made by Xi, China's unrivaled "core" leader. Li has also been sidelined in discussions about a future long-term economic plan. On Monday, an important meeting chaired by Xi was held at Beijing's Zhongnanghai, home to party and government headquarters. Xi listened to economic experts' opinions on a new five-year plan that starts next year. Among the meeting participants were China's No. 5 Wang Huning and No. 7 Han Zheng, both Politburo Standing Committee members, as well as Vice Premier Liu He and party publicity chief Huang Kunming. Li, whose primary job is economic management, was not present. By rule, Li is set to remain a member of the party's top decision-making body at least until the autumn of 2022 and premier until the spring of 2023. Nevertheless, China's No. 2 is not presiding over discussions about the 2021-2025 plan. It is hard to argue he has not been sidelined. Chinese politics under Xi's rule is always harsh. His faction controls key positions in party publicity, which is likely what led to the media's extremely unequal treatment of the flood inspection tours. In addition to the next five-year plan, an ultra-long-term economic outlook for 2035 will also be discussed at the fifth plenary session of the party's 19th Central Committee, in October. Xi stressed at the meeting on Monday the importance of adopting "a long-term perspective," of grasping the direction of the times and extensively pooling wisdom to study new circumstances and make new plans. In effect, he has been showing the Chinese people who's boss and telling them his reign is set to last into the foreseeable future. Katsuji Nakazawa is a Tokyo-based senior staff writer and editorial writer at Nikkei. He has spent seven years in China as a correspondent and later as China bureau chief. He is the 2014 recipient of the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist prize for international reporting.