The growing marginalization of the CCP’s second-generation Reds and the growing fear of Xi Jinping among the Reds since he took power has been seen by some analysts as a curse rather than a boon to Xi Jinping.
The New York Times on April 26 published an excerpt from “Father and Son,” a new book by Jane Perlez, the paper’s Beijing bureau chief, which reveals that Chen Xiaolu, son of the late Communist Party patriarch Chen Yi, has fears and grievances about Xi Jinping.
The article reads, “On our first few lunches together, Xiaolu (Chen Xiaolu) was more cautious, but I could sense that he had reservations about Xi Jinping.”
The report disclosed that Chen Xiaolu seemed deeply disappointed with Document No. 9. The document puts forward the so-called seven dangers, calling for vigilance and eradication, including: promoting Western constitutional democracy, attempting to deny the Party’s leadership and the socialist political system with Chinese characteristics; promoting “universal values”, attempting to shake the ideological and theoretical basis of the Party’s rule. The document is seen as a demonstration of Xi’s determination to enforce authoritarian rule.
Chen Xiaolu also said that U.S.-China relations have become increasingly tense, “which is not something I am happy to see, but there is nothing I can do about it.”
Chen Xiaolu died of heart disease in Hainan on Feb. 28, 2018, at the age of 72. At Chen Xiaolu’s memorial service, the daughter of former Chinese Communist Party Vice Premier Luo Ruiqing revealed that Chen Xiaolu had been detained and interrogated by the Shanghai authorities for some time, and when he came out, he told his friends that he was fine and could travel, according to Wu Jolai, an independent scholar who travels to the United States.
But those in the know know that he has been banned from leaving the country, and there is also news that the authorities are pursuing him for the tens of millions of dollars in travel funds he spent on Anbang (these funds are supposed to be reimbursements received for being a board member or standing up for Anbang).
Even if Chen Xiaolu travels in Hainan, he will still be strictly watched by the authorities in case the bigwig Red Duo leaves the country with unpredictable effects.
After Xi Jinping came to power, the Red Generation was marginalized across the board. Among the military’s second-generation admirals, Air Force Commander Ma Xiaotian, Central War Zone Political Commissar Yin Fanglong, Navy Political Commissar Liu Xiaojiang, Second Artillery Political Commissar Zhang Haiyang, and National Defense University Political Commissar Liu Asia have all retired at some point. Liu Yuan, who was instrumental in bringing down Gu Junshan and Xu Caihou, did not become a member of the military commission or vice chairman of the military commission as expected, but retired to an idle position in the Communist Party’s National People’s Congress.
Mao Zedong’s first grandson Mao Xinyu, Li Peng’s daughter Li Xiaolin, Deng Xiaoping’s daughter Deng Nan, Chen Yun’s son Chen Yuan, Zhu Rongji’s daughter Zhu Yanlai and Wan Jifei, Wan Li’s son, were not among the members of the CPC National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in 2018.
On April 4 this year, the Qingming Festival, the family of the late former general secretary of the CPC Zhao Ziyang moved out of No. 6 Fuqiang Hutong in Beijing at the request of the authorities; while on May 19, 2019, Hu Huahua, Hu Yaobang’s third son, moved out of the quadrangle at No. 25 Accountant Hutong in Xicheng District, where Hu Yaobang lived during his lifetime.
Wu Xiaohui, Deng Xiaoping’s grandson-in-law, and Ren Zhiqiang, a second-generation red real estate tycoon, were even sentenced to prison.
Wang Qishan, who is also a second-generation Red and Xi Jinping’s youngest son, has been credited with “fighting the tigers” for Xi Jinping, and his power at the time was so great that his first term was called the “Xi-Wang system” instead of the “Xi-Li system” he and Premier Li Keqiang had. The “Xi-Li system”. At the 19th Communist Party Congress, Wang Qishan was not retired but became vice president, although he was over age, and it was once thought that Xi still regarded him as his right-hand man.
Not only is he unable to keep his friend Ren Zhiqiang, but his “big secretary” and former deputy ministerial-level inspector of the Central Inspection Group, Dong Hong, has also been investigated, and he himself has frequently shown weakness to Xi Jinping and expressed his heart.
During the two sessions of the Chinese Communist Party this year, Wang Qishan mentioned Xi Jinping at least eight times in his speech when he attended the Hunan delegation’s deliberations on the morning of March 6, and his words were also quite boastful.
On April 20, when Wang Qishan addressed the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia, he described himself as an “impromptu host” and that it was Xi Jinping who delivered the speech, and that he was only “the announcer” for Xi.
The Canadian-based cultural scholar and current affairs commentator Wen Zhao said that Wang Qishan used to be able to pull Xi Jinping’s sleeve and talk to him, but now he and Xi Jinping basically have a “master-servant” relationship. The decline of Wang Qishan’s status shows that Xi Jinping is becoming more and more isolated, as the once “Xi-Wang system” has become Xi Jinping’s “one and only” position.
Wen Zhaoge pointed out that even in an autocratic system, if only the monarch shines and no one else finds a presence, it will not be a prosperous era, not only not a prosperous era, but even dangerous for the autocratic monarch himself.
He further analyzed that the wise rulers in history, who were also more powerful, were always accompanied by wise ministers and wise ministers, and the entire reputation could not be enjoyed by the ruler alone; the cruel but brilliant dictators in history also did not take all the fame alone, because sharing part of their reputation was the same as sharing part of the firepower and dispersing part of the resentment.
For a dictator, although it is said to make people fear you, you cannot make them fear only you, because behind the fear is resentment, which is the same as accumulating resentment in one.
Therefore, the decline of Wang Qishan’s status is not a gospel for Xi Jinping, who will henceforth be “a one-man show” and will have to carry all the pressure from all sides.
When Xi Jinping first came to power, not only did Wang Qishan and Liu Yuan help him “fight corruption and tigers,” but Hu Deping, son of Hu Yaobang, Geng Ying, daughter of Geng Biao, Hu Muying, daughter of Hu Qiaomu, and Tao Siliang, daughter of Tao Chuang, were also once openly supportive of Xi, while in recent years there have been few red-heads who have shown loyalty to Xi.
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