Amid the intense confrontation between the United States and China, news of officials falling from grace due to corruption in critical areas where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seeks to dominate continues to surface. This includes the big data and chip industries, as well as the military responsible for Taiwan. Experts point out that these internal power struggles will impact the confrontation between Beijing and Washington.
The CCP views big data analysis as the foundation for developing artificial intelligence and actively strives to become a global leader in the field of big data analysis. Since 2016, the CCP’s central government has designated big data as a pillar industry in Guizhou, approving the establishment of the nation’s first national big data pilot zone in the province. In February 2018, Yunshang Guizhou, a subsidiary of Guizhou Big Data Development and Management Bureau, signed a deal with Apple, becoming the “sole partner operating iCloud services in mainland China” for Apple.
However, in recent months, officials related to Guizhou’s big data industry have frequently fallen from grace due to corruption charges, including the former chief engineer of Guizhou Big Data Development and Management Bureau and two former directors of the bureau.
According to the Guizhou Province Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, on May 16, Li Gang, deputy director of the Guizhou Provincial Military-Civil Fusion Development Committee, and director of the Provincial Defense Science and Technology Office, was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and is currently under disciplinary review and supervision investigation.
In 2020, Li Gang served as the deputy director of the Guizhou Big Data Development and Management Bureau. In January 2024, he became the Party Secretary of the Guizhou Big Data Development and Management Bureau and later served as deputy director of the Guizhou Provincial Military-Civil Fusion Development Committee Office and director of the Provincial Defense Science and Technology Office.
Before him, two former directors of the Guizhou Big Data Development and Management Bureau, Jing Yaping and Ma Ningyu, had been removed from their positions.
Ma Ningyu, who served as the first director of the Guizhou Big Data Development and Management Bureau from 2016 to 2021, spearheaded the establishment of Guizhou as the country’s first national comprehensive big data test area. In August 2024, he was investigated for allegedly diverting public data resources for personal gain, involving corruption in projects like “Colorful Cloud” and “Data Cage.”
Jing Yaping, who succeeded Ma Ningyu as the director of the Guizhou Big Data Development and Management Bureau from 2021 to 2024, was dismissed in October of last year and investigated in February this year. She was accused of directing the awarding of the provincial data platform project to a shell company controlled by her son-in-law through the encryption watermark in bidding documents, resulting in a budget overrun of 2 billion yuan. She was also accused of using government cloud servers for bitcoin mining, with 327 bitcoins worth hundreds of millions of yuan remaining in the mining pool when detected.
The Guizhou big data industry is a part of the CCP’s big data strategy. During the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party held in October 2017, CCP leader Xi Jinping emphasized the need to “promote deep integration of the internet, big data, artificial intelligence, and the real economy.”
The CCP aims to develop artificial intelligence with a starting point of mastering big data analysis. Research by the Rand Corporation shows that the CCP is actively working to become a global leader in the field of big data analysis. The CCP’s big data strategy covers economic, military, public security, and intelligence domains.
The Rand Corporation report states that the Chinese public security forces are keen on using big data analysis to enhance their operational capabilities significantly. This capability will greatly enhance their mission completion. Big data analysis also supports China’s social credit system, which integrates derived tools from big data to rank the reputation of every Chinese citizen. Moreover, mastering big data analysis will place the CCP in a more advantageous position in future major power military conflicts.
In the military domain, Beijing has shown special interest in using big data and eventually artificial intelligence to improve various capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army. The CCP’s military aims to fully grasp the use of defense big data to control – and even dominate – the information warfare environment, where information control is crucial in combating major powers. The primary focus of big data application in the military domain includes command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR); equipment and maintenance; logistics; healthcare; mobilization; training; recruitment; modeling and simulation; as well as network security.
The Rand Corporation report states that Beijing is committed to using big data to help China achieve a great power status. However, the consecutive removals of officials from the Guizhou Big Data Development and Management Bureau have cast a shadow over the CCP’s big data strategy.
In the CCP’s efforts to counter another high-tech industry against the United States – the chip industry, corruption has also become a major concern for the CCP.
In May of this year, Zhao Weiguo, a key figure in the semiconductor self-sufficiency movement and former chairman of Tsinghua Unigroup, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve. The prosecution accused Zhao Weiguo of embezzling over 470 million yuan of state assets and causing a loss of 890 million yuan to the country by providing benefits to family and friends.
The CCP took harsh measures against Zhao Weiguo because he extended his money-making ventures to the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund (referred to as the “big fund”). After 2014, semiconductors became one of Xi Jinping’s key strategies. The government established a fund of over 130 billion yuan, investing in Tsinghua Unigroup with a stake of 51%, while Zhao Weiguo held the remaining 49% (under the name of Jiangukuang Investment Group). In addition, Zhao Weiguo also held substantial shares in Unisplendour, Yinrun Investment, TCL Group, with his personal net worth reaching 2 billion US dollars.
Relying on the strong financial power of the national fund, starting from 2014, Tsinghua Unigroup made significant acquisitions, acquiring the IC design companies Spreadtrum and RDA successively, investing in hard drive manufacturer Western Digital, merging with flash memory giant SanDisk through the acquisition of Western Digital, and even challenging the heavyweight acquisition of Micron, investing a hefty 9 billion US dollars in just two years. Zhao Weiguo also vowed to acquire Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and MediaTek, but on July 9, 2021, Tsinghua Unigroup announced bankruptcy reorganization. On July 25, 2022, Caixin Network reported that Zhao Weiguo was taken away for investigation by relevant authorities.
Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, targeting high-tech sectors such as chips and big data, also extends to another frontline department counteracting the US – the military responsible for attacking Taiwan.
The U.S.-China power play around Taiwan is becoming intense. At the end of May, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that if the CCP attempts to “conquer” Taiwan, it will bring “disastrous consequences.” He issued a stern warning that the threat from China to Taiwan could be “imminent.”
Austin stated that the US aims to “prevent war” through deterrence with allies. He said, “But if deterrence fails, and my commander-in-chief calls and says go, we’re prepared to do what the Department of Defense does best – conduct decisive combat and win.”
The CCP has repeatedly threatened to use military force against Taiwan and recently intensified military exercises near the island of Taiwan, including simulated blockades.
However, within the military – the very sector Xi Jinping heavily relies on for potential Taiwan operations, severe anti-corruption actions have also taken place.
Over the past two years, the CCP has dismissed two defense ministers and numerous senior PLA officers, including high-ranking leaders in the Rocket Force.
The Rocket Force is vital for CCP’s operations against Taiwan. During the 1996 Taiwan Strait missile crisis and the large-scale military drills China conducted around Taiwan in August 2022 when then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, the Rocket Force played a significant role.
Lin Yingyou, assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research specializing in PLA studies, told “Commonwealth” magazine that these military exercises demonstrate that if the CCP were to attack Taiwan, missiles would undoubtedly be the main force used to strike key infrastructure in Taiwan.
As the military cleansing continues, the latest revelations involve arrested generals deeply involved in formulating operational plans against Taiwan.
In April of this year, the Nikkei Asian Review reported that General He Weidong, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, was removed from his position. He ranked third in the military, only after Xi Jinping and another Central Vice Chairman from the military, Zhang Youxia. Since the closing of the CCP National People’s Congress on March 11, his whereabouts had been unknown. He had been absent from four critical public meetings.
He Weidong previously served as the commander of the Eastern Theater Command, a key region facing Taiwan. The Eastern Theater Command is one of the five major military regions of the PLA, with headquarters located in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. Under the extensive military restructuring led by Xi Jinping since 2015, the Eastern Theater Command took over the jurisdiction of the former Nanjing Military Region.
Military personnel from the Nanjing Military Region, especially those from the disbanded 31st Group Army, played a crucial role in helping Xi Jinping control the military, making it one of his power bases. He Weidong had long served in the then 31st Group Army stationed in Xiamen, Fujian Province, near the Taiwan Strait.
Six months before He Weidong was removed, Xi Jinping suspended another Central Military Commission member, Miao Hua, on grounds of “serious misconduct.” Miao Hua also belonged to the 31st Group Army.
Phillip C. Saunders, director of the National Defense University’s Center for the Study of Chinese and Senior Researcher Joel Wuthnow, stated that Xi Jinping’s continued purge of top military brass raises doubts about his trust in the leaders to successfully launch a military operation against Taiwan.
Katsuji Nakazawa, a senior correspondent stationed in Tokyo for Nikkei, wrote that this complex, behind-the-scenes political struggle within the military will ultimately impact the Taiwan issue and consequently affect the confrontation between Beijing and Washington.