Shannon Brandao
"The Great Disruptor . . . Over the course of his 10-year rule, Xi has overseen a constant cleansing that has disrupted the careers and personal lives of some five million officials and business owners, according to [Chun Han Wong, WSJ].
'In 2023 alone, the unrelenting campaign swept through the worlds of finance, food, healthcare, semiconductors and sports—taking down scores of senior officials, bankers, hospital directors and even soccer administrators.China’s foreign and defense ministers went missing in the summer before being abruptly removed from their posts, leading to suspicions that they, too, have been purged. Beijing’s recent ouster of a dozen senior military and defense-industry officials from the national legislature and a government advisory body have fueled speculation about a broader shake-up of the country’s military establishment,' he added.
But the true number of folks who find themselves upended by Xi’s 'forever purge' . . . could be in the tens of millions as Xi’s gang pursue families, friends, associates, work departments, companies and, even, municipal staff for questioning and surveillance.
In December, Politico noted that 'China's security services have ramped up repression to totalitarian levels,' as their 'Stalin-like purge' swept the nation.
Besides '[t]he unexplained disappearance and removal of China’s foreign and defense ministers, there have been '[o]ther high-profile victims,' like several 'generals in charge of China’s nuclear weapons program and some of the most senior officials overseeing the Chinese financial sector.'
And while it has been reported that some of the aforementioned died in custody, for many Chinese - as well as foreign observers - 'the untimely death of Li Keqiang, China’s recently retired prime minister — No. 2 in the Communist hierarchy — who supposedly died of a heart attack in a swimming pool in Shanghai in late October, despite enjoying some of the world’s best medical care,' was especially ominous.
Regulators and policymakers frozen
Daniel Leese, a Chinese history professor at the University of Freiburg, told WSJ that 'Xi’s perpetual purges are inspired in part by Mao’s ideas on waging "continuous revolution," which were meant to avert ideological atrophy in the party and broader society.'
'But whereas Mao roused ordinary Chinese into purging class enemies and assaulting what he saw as a decaying party from the outside, Xi has shaken up the party from within, using fear to enforce virtuous behavior. Even the party’s discipline inspectors themselves have become targets, under a rectification campaign launched in February that aims to "turn the blade inward and cut out decaying flesh,”' he said.
Fear is also growing out of confusion over what - if anything, under Xi Jinping - is consistently correct."
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Shannon Brandao
"😏Have a great weekend.🍨"