On November 28, the Chinese Communist Party officials announced that General Miao Hua, a member of the Central Military Commission and Director of the Political Work Department of the Military Commission, has been “suspended for investigation.” Political analysts believe that there are many suspicious points behind Miao Hua’s trouble. It is still uncertain whether the mastermind behind this incident is the CCP leader Xi Jinping or the Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission, Zhang Youxia.
At a routine press conference held by the Chinese Ministry of National Defense on November 28, Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian stated that General Miao Hua, a member of the Central Military Commission and Director of the Political Work Department of the Military Commission, has been “suspended for investigation.”
Miao Hua became the second member of the Central Military Commission to be investigated after the former Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu. With Miao Hua suspended, the Central Military Commission now only has Liu Zhenli and Zhang Shengmin as members.
Following Wu Qian’s announcement of Miao Hua’s investigation, foreign media quickly followed up with relevant reports. However, the Chinese official media remained silent for a while, only gradually re-posting a brief statement from CCTV around 8 p.m. Beijing time on the 28th. The content of the report was merely a single sentence.
In October of this year, Miao Hua was still seen in public. On October 29, the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party held an opening ceremony for the “Spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the Twentieth Central Committee.” Xi Jinping attended and delivered a speech. From the footage broadcasted by CCTV, Miao Hua was also present at the event.
On October 7, in his capacity as Deputy Head of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee delegation, Miao Hua appeared in Xinjiang to attend the 70th anniversary celebration of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and delivered a congratulatory message.
Miao Hua, 69 years old, originally from Rugao, Jiangsu, was born in Fuzhou, Fujian. He is a member of the Eighteenth Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and a member of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Central Committees.
Miao Hua served for a long time in the 31st Group Army of the Nanjing Military Region, holding positions such as Battalion Instructor, Regimental Political Commissar, Divisional Political Commissar, and Director of the Group Army Political Department. As the 31st Group Army was stationed in Fujian during Miao Hua’s service there, he had working interactions with Xi Jinping, who was then the Party Secretary of the Fuzhou Military District and the First Political Commissar of the Fujian Province Anti-Aircraft Artillery Reserve Division. It is widely believed that this experience earned Miao Hua recognition and trust from Xi Jinping.
In 2005, Miao Hua was appointed as the Political Commissar of the 12th Group Army of the Nanjing Military Region, and five years later, he was transferred to serve as the Director of the Political Department of the Lanzhou Military Region. In 2012, he was promoted to Deputy Political Commissar of the Lanzhou Military Region. After the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Miao Hua’s career accelerated.
In July 2012, Miao Hua was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General. In July 2014, he was appointed Political Commissar of the Lanzhou Military Region and was transferred to become the Political Commissar of the Navy in December of the same year. In July 2015, he was promoted to Vice Admiral. In August 2017, Miao Hua succeeded Zhang Yang, who fell from power, as the Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party. In October of the same year, with the convening of the Nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, he was promoted to a member of the Central Military Commission and began to oversee personnel matters of the entire military.
On November 28, during the press conference, Wu Qian also denied reports by Western media regarding the “trouble” of Chinese Minister of National Defense Dong Jun, claiming that the reports were “pure fabrication” and the rumor mongers were malicious, expressing the CCP’s “strong dissatisfaction” with it.
The news of Miao Hua’s downfall has been circulating since earlier this year.
In February of this year, freelance writer Du Zheng published an article in the Taiwanese media, stating that Miao Hua is a silent “big tiger” in the Communist military. The article mentioned that during Miao Hua’s tenure in the 31st Army, he had close ties with Xi Jinping, who was serving in Fujian at the time, and was promoted by Xi Jinping all the way. As the Director of the Military Commission’s Political Work Department, all political commissars in the entire military were under his control, and promotions and transfers within the military required his approval before being submitted to Xi Jinping, making it necessary for the officials to rely on Miao Hua.
The article also mentioned that the Navy was Miao Hua’s political stronghold and specifically pointed out the relationship between Dong Jun and Miao Hua, indicating that Dong Jun’s backing was Miao Hua.
In July of this year, on the eve of the Third Plenary Session of the Twentieth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Deputy Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission He Hongjun was suddenly promoted by Xi Jinping to the rank of General and publicly appeared as the Executive Deputy Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission for the first time.
When interviewed by the Epoch Times, political commentator Chen Pokong said that He Hongjun’s rapid promotion to General with shallow qualifications already represented an unconventional appointment, and even more so when he was promoted to the Executive Deputy Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission. This move was intended to sideline Miao Hua. Chen Pokong analyzed that Miao Hua controlled the military’s personnel power, and many of those promoted by him came from the Navy. Regardless of whether Miao Hua had anti-Xi actions, Xi Jinping’s suspicion towards him grew solely based on his high position and influence.
On November 14, former mainland media person Zhao Lanjian disclosed to the media that the news of Miao Hua’s arrest had caused quite a stir among the Red Second Generation circle in Beijing. Zhao Lanjian stated that when Miao Hua was arrested, his head was covered with a hood and escorted by several soldiers, witnessed by many residents of the compound.
Chen Pokong, in an interview with the Epoch Times on November 29, said that there were many suspicious points in the CCP’s official explanation of Miao Hua’s downfall.
Chen Pokong said firstly, the announcement of Miao Hua’s investigation by the spokesman of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense Wu Qian was extremely unusual. The Ministry of National Defense is subordinate to the State Council and usually does not have the authority to oversee the investigation of such a high-ranking member like General Miao Hua, who is a Central Military Commission member and Chief of the General Political Department. According to convention, such news should be released by the Military Commission or the Discipline Inspection Commission.
He further analyzed that secondly, after Wu Qian announced this news, foreign media quickly followed up with reports, while the official Chinese media notably delayed its coverage. This reaction indicated that the CCP was in a hurry to deal with the situation and needed more time to carefully handle the related information. Chen Pokong said that recently, there were reports in British media about Dong Jun’s “trouble,” and without these reports, the CCP might have chosen to continue concealing the news of Miao Hua’s investigation. However, the abrupt announcement of Miao Hua’s downfall by the CCP now seems like an attempt to clarify external speculations, emphasizing that it was Miao Hua and not Dong Jun who encountered trouble, but the statement regarding Miao Hua remains mysterious.
Chen Pokong explained that the CCP’s announcement that Miao Hua was “suspended for inspection” rather than “suspended for investigation” is unprecedented. Additionally, Wu Qian mentioned that the decision was made “through the research of the Party Central Committee,” implying that the decision was not made by the Discipline Inspection Commission or the Military Discipline Inspection Commission. He stated that the “Party Central Committee” refers to the entire top leadership of the CCP, and whether this so-called “Party Central Committee” refers to Xi Jinping personally or the collective leadership’s will is worth further consideration.
Chen Pokong believes that it is still unclear who was behind Miao Hua’s disposal.
He said that if Miao Hua’s downfall was orchestrated by Xi Jinping, then Xi’s promotion of He Hongjun to sideline Miao Hua before the Third Plenary Session could be seen as a clue. In addition, during the Third Plenary Session, rumors about Xi Jinping suffering a stroke spread on the internet, and he did not appear in public until August 19 when he met with the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong. During this period, the “Democratic Centralism Reader,” organized by the Central Military Commission’s Political Work Department, was distributed to the entire military, with no mention of Xi Jinping, which might have made Xi Jinping dissatisfied with Miao Hua.
Chen Pokong believes that if Xi Jinping wanted to deal with Miao Hua, he could not do it through conventional means because the member of the Central Military Commission and the Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Zhang Shengmin might be unwilling to act, and although the Discipline Inspection Commission listened to Xi Jinping’s orders, after the Third Plenary Session, the collective leadership system was strengthened, limiting their actions. In the end, Xi Jinping might only be able to take down Miao Hua through this method.
However, he stated that it could not be ruled out that Zhang Youxia was the one leading Miao Hua’s downfall, especially considering that Miao Hua was Xi Jinping’s chief confidant in the military and Xi Jinping’s military authority has visibly declined. There have been recent rumors that Lin Xiangyang, the Commander of the Eastern Theater Command of the CCP, was arrested, and both Miao Hua and Lin Xiangyang had experience serving in Fujian and were promoted by “Fujian faction” generals designated by Xi Jinping. Chen Pokong believes that from this perspective, the possibility of Zhang Youxia taking action exists because he has no other normal means to catch Miao Hua and might finally have had to resort to this method to take him down.
Independent political commentator and writer Cai Shenkun stated on social media on November 29 that besides Miao Hua and Dong Jun, there is also the new Commander of the Navy, Hu Zhongming, and the rocket force commander, Wang Houbin, who were promoted across different military branches due to Miao Hua’s recommendations. Additionally, Lin Xiangyang, the Commander of the Eastern Theater Command, is one of Miao Hua’s former subordinates in Fujian. Furthermore, Wang Chunning, the Commander of the Armed Police Force, has been a longtime colleague of Miao Hua. He expressed that Miao Hua’s investigation signifies a significant blow to the group in the military supported by Xi Jinping, with a large number of officials promoted by Miao Hua likely to be implicated.