【Epoch Times, August 27, 2026】Hubei official media recently published an article praising Deng Xiaoping’s “reform and opening up” and criticizing the “few individuals” advocating contraction and isolation as having “no way out.” Several reprinted articles were deleted afterwards. Japanese media interpreted this as a challenge to Xi Jinping’s current policies. Experts analyzed four possible reasons for the publication of this article, and the deletion of the article reflects intense infighting within the Communist Party of China before the Fifth Plenum of the 20th Central Committee, making the political situation unusually sensitive.
On August 17, the theoretical weekly of “Hubei Daily” published an article titled “Inheriting the Spirit of the Long March ‘Northward’ and Firmly Promoting Transformational Development.”
The article emphasizes the journey from the “reform and opening up” at the Third Plenum of the Eleventh Central Committee in 1978 to Deng Xiaoping’s Southern Tour in 1992, all the way to China’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001, harshly criticizing the current situation where “a few people advocate contraction, trying to revert to the comfort zone of the domestic sphere”; “some people use the pretext of risk prevention for inaction and negligence”; and “pursuing so-called absolute security leads to stagnation in development.” The phrases “risk prevention,” “absolute security,” and “internal circulation” are all core governance policies that have been personally set by Xi Jinping and have been frequently incorporated into top-level documents in recent years.
This article was co-authored by Lu Liping, a researcher at the Research Institute of the Yangtze River Economic Belt at Renmin University of China, and graduate student Li Yang.
On August 20, the new media account “Donghu Youli” under the Hubei Daily Media Group condensed the core of the article into a short video for widespread distribution, prominently displaying the slogan: “The idea of trying to develop by closing the door is destined to have no way out.”
The video further emphasizes: “China’s economy cannot rely on contraction and isolation” but instead on reform and openness, global integration, and “embracing the global market.”
Deng Xiaoping’s Southern Tour speech in 1992 contained similar remarks such as “There is no way out without reform and opening up” and “Those who do not reform will step down.” Wuhan in Hubei was an important stop on Deng Xiaoping’s Southern Tour.
On platforms such as Toutiao in mainland China, this article has been shared by mainland bloggers, sparking resonance and debate among Chinese netizens regarding Li Keqiang’s statement “The waters of the Yangtze River and Yellow River will not flow backward” and the path of reform and opening up. However, the article has now been deleted.
The Hubei Civilization Net and Shiyan Civilization Net, which reposted the article, have both deleted it.
Epoch Times journalists discovered scattered discussions on Weibo, with someone posting screenshots saying, “Hubei Daily is raising its arms.” In response, someone commented: “Thumbs up for Hubei Daily.” “Advising them to rein in the horse near the cliff so as not to end up hurting themselves. Why advise them, why not let them fall off the cliff?”
“Nikkei Shimbun” published an article by Zekkou Ni on August 27 titled “Hubei Challenges Xi Jinping’s Economic Policies.”
The article states that the article by Hubei official media is a rare event that occurred in an inland area outside the capital Beijing of China.
Zekkou Ni believes that the criticism of the so-called “few individuals” in this article echoing Deng Xiaoping’s reform and opening up is widely seen as a denunciation of Xi Jinping’s current economic policies.
The article also mentions Hubei’s newly appointed Party Secretary Guan Zhiou’s close relationship with the late former Premier Li Keqiang.
“Hubei Daily” is the official newspaper of the Communist Party Committee of Hubei Province. Guan Zhiou, born in 1969, Minister of Natural Resources, succeeded Wang Zhonglin as Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee on May 30, 2026, and became the youngest Party Secretary at the provincial level in China, being a candidate member of the 20th Central Committee.
Li Keqiang served as the Secretary of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee from 2004 to 2007, and Guan during this period served as Deputy Director of the Shenyang Agriculture High-Tech Development Zone Management Committee and Deputy Director and Director of the Shenyang Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau.
On overseas social media, numerous netizens have reposted screenshots, indicating that Hubei official media is “anti-Xi.”
In recent years, China’s economic downturn and the collapse of land finance revenue have been attributed to Xi Jinping’s reversal of the reform and opening up trend. The authorities have recently expanded “overseas taxation” and tightened “personnel exit,” causing international and public speculation about “closing the country.”
Feng Chongyi, an associate professor at the University of Technology Sydney, told Epoch Times that Xi Jinping’s actions go against Deng Xiaoping’s path of reform and opening up, leading to dissatisfaction among many people and immense undercurrents within and outside the system. However, the Communist Party’s propaganda is tightly controlled. In the current public opinion environment, local official media dare not openly oppose Xi Jinping.
As for the deletion of the article, he believes it may have been due to officials executing the Communist Party’s propaganda control, seeing that the discourse contradicted the authorities above and could have adverse effects, leading to its removal.
Feng Chongyi stated that while Xi Jinping emphasizes internal and external circulation and two-way circulation, he undoubtedly aims to one day close the door and avoid being constrained by the United States. However, in reality, China cannot escape from its reliance on the US and the West in terms of markets and technology, so the CCP cannot truly close the door. Therefore, it is not excluded that someone deliberately made use of Xi Jinping’s self-contradictory statements as a form of sophisticated satire.
The release of the aforementioned article by “Hubei Daily” coincides with Xi Jinping’s speech at the commemoration of Jiang Zemin’s birthday and also before the Fifth Plenum in October, with the 21st National Congress of the Communist Party of China scheduled for the following year.
Shen Mingshi, a researcher at the Taiwan Institute for National Defense Safety, told Epoch Times that as rumors increase about whether Xi Jinping will step down by the time of the 21st National Congress, an article from a local official media discussing “no way out by developing with closed doors” seems like a subtle critique of Xi Jinping’s emphasized domestic circulation strategy to pressure Xi to step down and build momentum for his replacement.
Shen Mingshi believes that the deletion of this article proves that it indeed touched upon the most sensitive issue of the current Communist Party propaganda, which is the controversy over the party’s line. Party propaganda now typically revolves around the so-called “two safeguards,” which are to support Xi Jinping’s views. However, Hubei official media bypassed the central authorities, elevated the political discourse on their own, criticized the current policy using Deng Xiaoping’s theories, and then netizens associated Li Keqiang’s statement “the waters of the Yangtze River and Yellow River will not flow backward” to oppose Xi Jinping’s current policies. This has sparked a sensitive issue.
Shen Mingshi analyzed that there are several possible reasons for the publication of the article by Hubei official media.
One possibility is that it was a mistake on the part of the Hubei propaganda system, or the scope was not well controlled. It applied Deng Xiaoping’s Southern Tour speech but failed to realize that opposing closed-door development conflicts significantly with the current dual circulation strategy.
Another possibility is an intentional approach: the article proposed solutions to current issues but utilized Deng Xiaoping’s Southern Tour speech as a way to counter Xi Jinping. Because Hubei was the first stop of Deng Xiaoping’s inspection during his Southern Tour in 1992, the publication of an article with strong Deng Xiaoping Southern Tour colors by Hubei official media holds significant importance.
The third possibility is internal provocation amidst the transition of power between old and new factions. Since Guan Zhiou took over from Wang Zhonglin at the end of May this year, the local propaganda system may still consist of Wang Zhonglin’s people. Before Guan Zhiou has solidified his position, it cannot be ruled out that these old individuals have stirred up trouble to attract criticism from the central authorities directed at Guan Zhiou.
The fourth possibility is that the central leadership indeed intends to make slight adjustments to the “reform and opening up” policy and is testing public reactions by launching issues through Hubei. However, this possibility is relatively low.
Shen Mingshi concludes that whether the publication of this article was an inadvertent fault or a deliberate political maneuver, releasing it just before the Fifth Plenum is extremely sensitive. The subsequent deletion of the reposted article reflects the high sensitivity of the current Communist Party when facing the dispute between economic strategies and power succession. “Any spark or policy mistake from now on could potentially trigger significant conflicts and events.”