In early 1969, Xi Jinping went to Yanchuan County in northern Shaanxi Province to “go to the mountains and go to the countryside. He was a member of the Yanchuan County team, and his mother had her own considerations, and contacted the Yanchuan County team in rural northern Shaanxi to “settle down” in the old area where Xi Zhongxun and Qi Xin had worked for many years. In this way, Xi Jinping began a life of adolescent ordeal alone.
In 1971, Lin Biao was overthrown, and in 1972, the military representatives who were in power at all levels of the “Revolutionary Committee” withdrew, and power changed hands to the old local cadres. Some say that Qi Xin wrote to Yanchuan County about Xi around this time, but this information cannot be confirmed. What has become apparent since then is that covert care began to take effect. In 1974, Xi was directly appointed by the county as one of the “youth delegates” to attend the Shaanxi Provincial Youth Conference in Xi’an. Someone else also attended the Shaanxi Provincial Youth Congress that year and was in the same discussion group as Xi Jinping.
In 1975, the old cadres of the “Revolutionary Committee” of Yanchuan County assigned a quota and “recommended” Xi Jinping to attend the university where the “educational revolution” was being carried out. Despite some twists and turns, Xi left rural Shaanxi Province in October of that year to study for three years as a “worker-peasant-soldier student” at the “Chemical Engineering Department” of Tsinghua University in Beijing. He was due to graduate at the end of 1978, and his future destination and fate were still uncertain.
In 1976, Mao died, and the Cultural Revolution came to an end. In 1978, his father, Xi Zhongxun, was liberated and reappointed by the “Deng faction” as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Guangdong Province. Xi Jinping’s status as a “second generation black” turned back into a “second generation red” (then known as the “Crown Prince Party”), and he did not pursue his chemical engineering profession after graduating in late 1978. He wasted valuable knowledge and school resources. Xi Zhongxun negotiated with Geng Biao, then Secretary General of the Central Military Commission, and placed Xi Jinping in the General Office of the Central Military Commission as a secretary in early 1979.
In 1978, China’s colleges and universities resumed regular admissions and examinations. 5.7 million young people, mainly “Zhiqing”, took the examinations, and 270,000 of them were admitted to colleges and universities, becoming the first regular college students since the Cultural Revolution.
Xi Jinping had already graduated by this time. His career as a secretary in the General Office of the Central Military Commission lasted more than three years, from early 1979 to 1982, as a small secretary running errands and a section-level cadre. Geng Biao did not favor this Xi Jinping, who was expelled by Deng Xiaoping in May 1982. The “rats in the sinking ship” Xi Jinping also had to leave the General Office of the Military Commission system in 1982. At this time, Xi Zhongxun was serving in the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and he placed Xi Jinping in Zhengding County, Hebei Province, where he had no experience in politics. Why Zhengding County? Because Zhengding County is located in the northern suburbs of Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei Province, and is only 250 kilometers from Beijing, making it easy to get to and from.
During Xi’s three-year tenure in Zhengding County, Hebei Province, from 1982 to 1985, he did not make the “third echelon list of provincial and municipal officials” (a list of reserve cadres drawn up by the Communist Party in the 1980s). His superior leader at that time was Gao Yang. Gao Yang, former Minister of the Central Ministry of Chemical Industry and then First Secretary of the CPC Hebei Provincial Committee, was one of the very few senior cadres in the Party with a university degree, a decent person and a clean official. Gao Yang was disgusted with the “second generation of the Red Generation” like Xi Jinping, who had no practical training and lacked political achievements but had risen to power and wealth by virtue of his connections.
In the meantime, Xi Zhongxun wrote a letter to Gao Yang (or called him), proposing that Xi Jinping be promoted to the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee (a department-level cadre). But Gao Yang made the letter public at a meeting of provincial cadres and stated, “This is not in line with the Party’s policy, and I am not prepared to do it.” With no political record but a hand out for an official position, such a reputation and lack of hope for promotion made it impossible for Xi Jinping to stay in Hebei Province. So Xi Zhongxun went back to his old tricks and went to Hu Yaobang privately to beg him. Hu Yaobang, a warm-hearted man, discussed with his “reformist” friend Xiang Nan, who was then the first secretary of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee, to place Xi Jinping as deputy mayor of Xiamen, Fujian Province.
Thus, in 1985, Xi Jinping jumped out of the normal CCP organizational transfer process and crossed the organizational system of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee to become the vice mayor of Xiamen City, another promotion out of thin air. Before his departure, Xi said to Gao Yang, “You are a cadre under the control of the central government (mocking privilege), you are free to come and go, so you don’t have to say goodbye to me.” This was embarrassing for Xi.
Xi and Peng met at the end of 1986, when Xi was nine years older than Peng, and they got married in Xiamen on Sept. 1, 1987, the fourth day after the wedding, when Peng returned to Beijing to perform at the “Arts Festival. Born in 1962 in Shandong Province, Peng was a singer in a cultural troupe and became known to Chinese audiences in 1982. She became the second wife of Xi Jinping in 1987, and was later unsuccessful in competing with Song Zuying, the most famous singer of the time.
Hu served as General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1982 to 1987, and was the person who carried out the country’s early “reform and opening up”, the vindication of wrongdoings and the “truth standard” discussions. But Hu Yaobang’s “enlightenment” made Deng Xiaoping unwilling to accommodate him. So a political conspiracy was brewing: in January 1987 Bo Yibo (nicknamed “the fox with the flowery face” in the Party) suddenly accused Hu Yaobang in full. A few days later, on January 12, a “Central Committee Life Meeting” was convened by Deng Xiaoping and Chen Yun behind the scenes to take on Hu Yaobang. At the meeting, Hu Yaobang was attacked by three forces. They attacked Hu Yaobang as the chief backstage of the trend of “bourgeois liberalization” and alleged that Hu Yaobang was in favor of Deng Xiaoping’s retirement. In a surprise move, they joined forces to force Hu to resign from his post as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, in accordance with a preconceived conspiracy. Only Xi Zhongxun thought that such “forcing” was not in line with the party rules. But the crusaders were satisfied only when Hu impulsively stood up and announced his resignation.
For the nation and ordinary Party members, Hu’s enlightened image and stepping down evoked a widespread sense of injustice.
In this meeting, Xi Zhongxun opposed “forcing the palace”, not because he was chivalrous in defending justice, as the world can see by looking at how he treated his mentor Gao Gang, who had no courage and chivalry. But one, he has benefited twice from Hu Yaobang (for the promotion of his sons), and now he refuses to even say a word of justice, so he is not enough of a friend. The second is that he is the last person in China to want Hu Yaobang to step down, because he needs Hu Yaobang to continue to “open the back door” for his children to arrange official positions. The first thing is that Xi Zhongxun was too insignificant in the eyes of Deng Xiaoping and Chen Yun to intervene, so he was left out of the picture.
The sudden death of Hu Yaobang in April 1989 triggered the “Tiananmen Democracy Movement” that shocked the world among Chinese people. Afterwards, Xi Zhongxun was scheduled for retirement and suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. During his career, Xi Zhongxun basically did not harm anyone, did not have bad ideas, did not participate in political intrigues, and did not engage in nasty things. It should be said that this is a good reputation among senior Communist Party cadres. He was so mediocre and thick-skinned, so even a soldier boy (Xu Shiyou) dared to bully Xi Zhongxun in public, and he died in Beijing in 2002.
In April 1989, the Tiananmen pro-democracy movement, spearheaded by university students, was a huge political storm that swept through the country, with people demanding a change in the economy. “This shocking wave was quelled. Subsequently, Deng Xiaoping learned from his mistakes and made a decision in late 1992 to allow all classes in China to participate in economic fortunes in exchange for their political support. This started the process of China’s economic leap and universal corruption. It was also at this time that Deng Xiaoping withdrew from the political scene. He set the organizational rules for the CCP: the leader could only serve two consecutive terms (ten years) before stepping down. 1997 Deng Xiaoping died.
The “Tiananmen Democracy Movement” did not affect Xi Jinping. In Fujian Province, Xi Jinping was promoted by three provincial party secretaries in Fujian Province because of his “second generation Red” background, and from then on he was on the fast track to promotion. These three provincial party secretaries were Xiang Nan, Jia Qinglin and Song Defu. Xi Jinping served as secretary of Ningde Party Committee (1988-1990), secretary of Fuzhou Party Committee (1990-1995), deputy secretary of Fujian Party Committee (1995-2000), and governor of Fujian Province (2000-2002). 1993 Jiang Zemin took control of state power and was in power for ten years. During this period Xi Jinping had no political achievements as an official, but kept rising in the ranks, the ghosts of which are hard to fathom.
Xi Jinping has been an official in Fujian Province for many years, and cadres in Fujian Province are familiar with him. They talk about Xi Jinping, mostly in a playful way, although the impression is not good, but no malice. They say Xi Jinping treats people kindly, is not critical of his subordinates, is not good at rhetoric, and is not noisy. It is also said that Xi’s main job is to convey instructions from his superiors, reading from a book, and then going to watch videos afterwards. He liked to watch gangster films and detective films, such as the American classic The Godfather; sometimes he watched lifestyle films, and had no interest at all in natural science films. These cadres did not have any motive to create rumors at that time, so their claims can be believed.
“After the Tiananmen Democracy Movement, the trend of “corruption” began to sweep through China, and Xi Jinping was not exempt from it. According to rumors in Fujian Province, Xi Jinping has also made some revelations. But cadres in Fujian Province say that’s not too much to ask. The “greed for money” involved Xi’s colleague Jing Fusheng, while the “lust” involved Meng Xue.
Jing Fusheng is also a “second generation Red” who was promoted by Xi Jinping along the way. Jing Fusheng was corrupt and sold officials for huge bribes until he was investigated by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in 2005 and fell from power.
Meng Xue, formerly known as Ma Xin, is a young female anchor for Southeast TV in Fujian Province. Rumors in Fujian province are that Xi Jinping developed an ambiguous relationship with Meng Xue when his wife Peng Liyuan used to go around performing during his tenure as Fuzhou municipal party secretary (1990-1995).
Peng Liyuan caught wind of something. One night in late 1991, she suddenly returned to Fuzhou from abroad to catch the adultery. Peng Liyuan seemed to have gotten the handle and she filed for divorce, making a lot of noise. Xi Jinping did not agree to the divorce, and from then on the separation of Xi and Peng began. This incident is known and talked about by everyone in the official circles of Fujian. The two of them later realized that their official future was more important to them and the matter was dropped.
Meng Xue, on the other hand, had a smooth sailing after 1991 and even launched a celebrity talk show named after Meng Xue himself in 1997 (the first of its kind in Fujian at the time) called “Meng Xue Time”. It is clear that there was a “powerful department” behind the scenes to support her. It was not until 2008, after Xi Jinping was chosen by the Communist Party leaders as his “successor,” that Meng Xue disappeared and no one knows her whereabouts.
During his time in Fujian Province, Xi nominally attended an “on-the-job study course in Marxist theory and political education at Tsinghua University” from 1998-2002. It was a popular fashion in China at the time for party cadres and officials to “study on-the-job”, and getting a diploma was a regular means of achieving whitewash and promotion. Xi Jinping didn’t go outside of this norm either, as it was somehow to his advantage. He did not attend the doctoral program at Tsinghua University, but was only privately released by his classmate in the Department of Chemical Engineering (Chen Xi, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Tsinghua University from 1995-2002, and secretary of the Party Committee and director of the university affairs of Tsinghua University from 2002-2008), who was a “worker, peasant, and soldier”, and had his doctoral dissertation written by Liu Huiyu, a clerk under Xi Jinping’s authority ( According to Hong Kong writer Zhong Zukang’s verification, Tsinghua University issued Xi Jinping a ‘Doctor of Laws’ degree. This incident led to the criticism that Xi Jinping has not been able to get rid of his “fake doctorate” since then.
A copy of Xi’s original doctoral dissertation was obtained from Hong Kong by the Sunday Times in March 2016. The dissertation is “A Study of Rural Marketization in China,” which has nothing to do with law. The thesis is followed by the statement that “97 books in Chinese and 26 books in English were consulted”. The fact is that Xi Jinping does not know English at all, and he is not even capable of reading a few sentences from a script like Li Keqiang.
In short, during his 17 years in Fujian Province, Xi Jinping has been an official muckraker, a warmonger, and has not cultivated a crony base. His voting record in Fujian Province has been poor. In the 15th CPC National Congress in 1997, he was the second-last alternate member of the Central Committee, and in the 16th CPC National Congress in 2002, he was the second-last member of the Central Committee, and many party delegates in Fujian Province did not vote for him.
During this period, relatives of Xi’s family, including his sisters Qi Qiaoqiao and Qi Anan, and his brother Xi Yuanping, all emigrated to Canada or Australia.
When Jiang Zemin retired in 2002, Hu Jintao became General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (the fourth generation of party leaders) and held state power for a decade. Wen Jiabao, as the government’s premier, provided full support. Hu Jintao was clean and cautious, and delegated power to the collective leadership system. His administration represented the rise of the Communist Youth League (the League faction), with members of the “League faction” occupying positions of power in various provinces and cities, making the League a platform for promotion and wealth. At this time, Jiang Zemin’s opinions were still heavyweight, and his followers (Jiang faction) were mainly located in the central party, government and military departments of the country.
Xi was transferred out of Fujian Province at the end of 2002 to become governor and secretary of the provincial party committee in Zhejiang Province, where he served until 2007. During his five years as an official in Zhejiang Province, Xi continued to lack political achievements, kept a low profile, did not offend anyone, and had no followers. Some of his subordinates somewhat despised Xi Jinping and felt that the man was not capable. Two of them are more obvious: Xia Baolong, deputy secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, and Wang Guoping, secretary of the Hangzhou Municipal Party Committee. This is also known to Xi Jinping.
The same as his father (Xi Zhongxun), Xi Jinping continues his ordinary career in the official reincarnation mode. This is “official luck”, which is only encountered in China’s official circles. However, a sudden change came in that year, which led him into the CCP’s central vortex.
By 2007, the CCP itself believed that China under its rule had reached the peak of the “millennium of prosperity”.
In October 2007, the 17th Communist Party Congress was held in Beijing. Xi Jinping was chosen as the future General Secretary of the Communist Party (Party leader) and Li Keqiang was chosen as the future Premier of the government. In the Communist Party’s totalitarian system, there is no separation of powers, the party leader holds supreme power, and the head of government is subordinate to the party leader.
Li Keqiang is a soft-spoken, educated, non-competitive, clean and diligent person who has been carefully cultivated by Hu Jintao for many years. The choice of Xi Jinping was a surprise to everyone. This is because Xi Jinping is the “second generation of the red”, ability and drive are very mediocre, lack of personal characteristics, cultural heritage is not enough. In the country like him such “talent”, almost a minute can be found two, the source is extremely large. Why him?
So do not choose the “second generation of red” line? No. At this time, various factions within the Chinese Communist Party were extremely active and divided on the issue of “successor”. Hu Jintao introduced the “regiment” important person Li Keqiang. At this time, Jiang Zemin did not have a more suitable candidate to be the General Secretary of the CPC, so in order to prevent the “reunion faction” from monopolizing the power of the dynasty, he needed to select a third-party “second generation” figure to succeed him as General Secretary, so as to continue the interests of the “Jiang faction This will not only continue the interests of the “Jiang faction” but also make it acceptable to the “group”. The available “second generation” at the provincial and ministerial level are Bo Xilai and Xi Jinping, as well as Li Yuanchao and Wang Qishan.
Li Yuanchao also belongs to the “regiment”, clean and open-minded, advocating internal party democracy, so it is not easy to be selected. Wang Qishan is smart and capable, but he is only a “second generation in-law” (son-in-law). Xi Jinping looks mediocre and honest, while Bo Xilai looks strong and ambitious. In fact, it is the same for Jiang Zemin who he chooses as party leader. But there are too many voices against Bo Xilai among the top echelons of the CCP, and many people are afraid of him for his domineering and ruthlessness (for example, Bo Xilai blatantly executed Chongqing Public Security Bureau chief Wen Qiang in 2010, violating the CCP rule set by Chen Yun: no killing in intra-party struggles, otherwise future generations would not meet well). Xi Jinping, on the other hand, has no leverage to be contested, is low-key and uneventful. With the recommendation and operation of Zeng Qinghong, Jiang Zemin introduced Xi Jinping to balance with the “reunion faction”. If Jiang had intended, he might not have chosen Xi Jinping. Hu Jintao agreed to Xi Jinping’s appointment as general secretary, allowing Li Keqiang to take over as premier instead. Because of the “balance of factions”, Xi Jinping was unexpectedly able to “take over”. He was then hastily transferred to Shanghai for a six-month transition before being transferred to Beijing to prepare for his “succession”.
But Bo Xilai, who has ambitions and is always on the move, did not agree to such an arrangement. His minimum goal was to enter the center of power (the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the CPC).
Bo Xilai, born in 1949, is a famous “second generation Red” whose father is Bo Yibo, a prominent Communist Party patriarch nicknamed the “Fox with a Flowery Face. Bo Xilai, who holds a formal university degree, was China’s Minister of Commerce in 2002 and was Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee and a member of the Central Politburo in 2007. He was a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee in 2007. He has a reputation for being a powerful, noisy, authoritarian, and human rights abuser who has taken the liberty of implementing a radical “black and white” campaign in Chongqing that has shaken the country. He is a very eloquent speaker, sometimes speaking eloquently without a speech, which is beyond Xi Jinping’s reach. In the “second generation” circle, he has the full support of Xi Jinping, while he has only the general approval.
Bo Xilai is the strongest contender for the “successor” position and is far more capable than Xi Jinping. He has a backbone and a gangster spirit, and Xi Jinping has feared him since he was a teenager, and he despises Xi Jinping. The company’s main goal is to make sure that the company’s employees are not too busy. In order to support Xi Jinping’s successor to power without fear, Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao may have to consider paving the way for Xi Jinping and suppressing Bo Xilai in order to retire safely.
Shortly afterwards, in February 2012, Bo’s subordinate crony Wang Lijun broke with Bo Xilai with his pugnacious character and ran to the U.S. consulate at night to expose Bo’s political underhandedness and corruption. This outburst determined the course of all subsequent Chinese history. Things went too far. Bo Xilai’s problems were then ignited, and in April 2012 he was removed from office by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee in an unannounced manner. Bo’s downfall was the result of his headstrong and short-sighted approach to playing Communist Party politics, and a victim of factionalism within the party. Although Xi Jinping’s rise to power was a compromise result, Xi was extremely lucky and seems to have been helped by heaven.
Xi and Bo belong to the same “princeling party,” and although they do not see eye to eye, they have always been brothers and sisters, as evidenced by photos of their many gatherings. In 2013, the first thing Xi Jinping did after gaining power was to put Bo Xilai in jail and sentence him to life in prison. In fact, Xi Jinping and Bo Xilai are in the same category, but it seems that Xi Jinping is more moderate.
At this time, Peng Liyuan (a famous singer) is a household name in China, but Xi Jinping is not known to exist. It was as if Xi Jinping was a “party leader” who appeared out of nowhere, making people feel strange, curious, puzzled and confused.
Hu Jintao stepped down from his post at the 18th Communist Party Congress in November 2012, giving up his power in favor of Xi. Xi Jinping took over as General Secretary of the CCP (the fifth generation of the party leader). Xi Jinping jumped three levels from an ordinary official to become General Secretary of the CCP, and he was well liked by both the government and the public. The party factions chose Xi Jinping not because of his political achievements but because of his inaction. Xi Jinping lacks seniority and prestige, and has no roots in the central government, so Xi has been constrained and monitored since he came to power. However, he was lucky that the “Jiang faction” and the “Tuan faction” counteracted each other and the domestic political landscape changed quietly, giving him the possibility to make a difference.
The national luck of Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao was really good, but in the Xi Jinping era, the national luck started to stagnate. At this time, China’s external situation is also gradually unfavorable, and the Chinese economy can no longer monopolize the windfall of “globalization”, which has curbed the rapid growth of the Chinese economy, and the “millennium of prosperity” is no longer mentioned.
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