As the battle between Hamas and Israel rages on, becoming the focal point of the world, a much quieter political war is being fought thousands of miles away. In Beijing and other political centers across China, work almost has ground to a halt. Recent times have caused personnel holding any kind of political sway to become paralyzed with fear. That is because Xi Jinping, Communist Party general secretary, has been on a mission to purge the government of all corruption at every level.
Politicians and bureaucrats alike are beginning to refuse to approve or disapprove work projects that are set in front of them. While Xi’s main targets are those who breach the upper crust of the political sphere, the lower-radar ones manage to fly the better. Some employees have retired early to keep their name out of the bull’s-eye. Others have even gone as far as suicide.
Xi has already removed Bo Xilai, considered one of China’s most influential politicians, and has sentenced him to life in prison for corruption and abuse of power. Zhou Yongkang, a former internal security czar and mentor of Bo, has been confined to his house while authorities conduct a thorough investigation relating to corruption. Zhou’s family and known, close associates have been placed under a form of detention while the investigation is on-going.
Now it seems Xi is setting his sights on his predecessor Hu Jintao and Hu’s predecessor Jiang Zemin. They are the heads of the Shanghai Gang faction and the Communist Youth League faction respectively, and therefore they are a threat to Xi’s power. He has also targeted senior military officials including Jiang’s associate Xu Caihou. Xu is in terribly poor health, but that has not stopped the retired military man from being court-martialed on bribery charges. A general this high up in the military has not been brought against such charges since 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was founded.
With the last two Communist Party general secretaries, only one or two senior politicians were targeted at a time in order to make an example out of them. Xi’s approach has been much more thorough. He is going after anyone who can be seen as a threat of any kind. Corruption is just the excuse he is using to remove opposition. It is important to note that Xi has yet to go after anyone from his own family or his close supporters.
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