Rumors surrounding the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping continue to ferment on the internet. Recently, doubts about Xi Jinping’s health were raised at the third plenary session of the Chinese Communist Party, and his decreased exposure in official Chinese media has fueled speculation about his possible troubles.
Recently, Yang Xiaoping, son of former Beijing Military Region Commander Yang Yong (also known as Wen Jiashi, 81 years old), posted a message on WeChat platform hinting at major changes within the Chinese leadership. Yang Xiaoping mentioned that this month (August) will see major domestic news surpassing the Olympics, the Russia-Ukraine war, conflicts in the Middle East, Venezuela, and Bangladesh, calling it a “true signal of a major unprecedented upheaval in a century.”
Recent online reports claim that Xi Jinping has been sidelined at least partially due to health issues. According to a leaked latest list of the Central Politburo of the Communist Party of China, Politburo Standing Committee member Ding Xuexiang is set to take over as General Secretary and President of the country, while Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Zhang Youxia will assume the role of Chairman of the Central Military Commission.
Xi’s presence or absence in official Chinese media has become a pivotal indicator for observing the political trends within the Chinese Communist Party. In the past two weeks, major party media such as Xinhua News Agency, People’s Daily, Global Times, CCTV Online, and PLA Daily have notably reduced their coverage of Xi Jinping.
For example, on August 10th, Xinhua published an article about Xi Jinping’s promotion of cultural and natural heritage conservation, with his name appearing in the title. People’s Daily focused on the historic cultural district of Tianjin without mentioning Xi Jinping in the title and only mentioning him three times in the text. Global Times highlighted the Russia-Ukraine war as its front-page headline. Even the prime-time news broadcast “Xinwen Lianbo” did not feature Xi Jinping’s name in the headlines.
At the same time, the reporting style of the Chinese Communist Party media regarding Xi Jinping has changed: there is an increase in textual reports, more use of images, and a relative decrease in video reports.
On August 11th, political analyst Chen Pokong, based in the United States, noted in an interview with Epoch Times that in the recent reports of the four major Chinese official media mentioned previously, when one media outlet includes Xi Jinping’s name in the headline, the other three typically do not mention him or refer to him only as the “General Secretary.”
Chen Pokong believes that despite the continued promotion of the so-called “Xi Jinping Thought” and his works in official media, the gradual shift gives the impression of his possible “demotion,” which aligns with various rumors since the 20th Party Congress.
From rumors about Xi Jinping’s health issues during the Third Plenum to speculations about Zhang Youxia launching a military coup, and Xi Jinping being revived after a medical emergency, including reports on his liver cirrhosis and undergoing a liver transplant surgery, a slew of rumors about Xi Jinping facing troubles have emerged in the last month and a half.
After the Third Plenum, Xi Jinping’s name appeared only six times in the released communique, which was less than the nine times in the Second Plenum communique. The content of this communique sharply contrasts with the pre-session praise by official media of Xi Jinping as a high-profile “reformer,” now showing a notable decrease in flattering tones towards Xi Jinping.
Chen Pokong believes that among these rumors, the likelihood of Xi Jinping being seriously ill is greater, while claims of a coup or mutiny are relatively less credible. The emergence of these anomalies is closely related to Xi Jinping’s health condition.
He stated that in the Chinese Communist Party system where rule by man is at the core, unlike the rule of law in democratic countries, if a leader faces serious health issues in a one-party regime, those around him or even close associates would quickly abandon him, while in a democratic constitutional state, the overall system would continue to function normally.
Chen Pokong said: “Xi Jinping is currently in a very ambiguous state, similar to the situation when Stalin fell.”
February 24th marks the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Since Russian President Putin’s visit to Beijing in February 2022, followed shortly by the war, Xi Jinping’s administration’s support for Russia has been a focus of global attention.
Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, China has consistently refused to condemn Russia. Despite claiming to be committed to “mediation and promoting talks,” China’s position has been clearly in favor of Russia, providing various forms of aid. In June this year, China did not participate in the Ukraine issue International Peace Summit held in Switzerland, citing unmet attendance conditions.
However, Beijing recently surprisingly held a Ukraine Film Festival. The Ukrainian Embassy in Beijing announced that in August this year, Beijing will host a Ukrainian Film Festival showcasing works from different periods by Ukrainian film directors to the Chinese public.
The film festival is jointly organized by the Ukrainian Embassy in China, the Goethe-Institut German Cultural Center in Beijing, and the French Cultural Center in Beijing. The film festival officially opened on August 10th, with two films screened on the first day, followed by a discussion by Chinese and Ukrainian film scholars. The festival will continue with screenings of two more films on August 22nd and 29th.
The announcement stated that this Ukraine Film Festival marks the first time Ukrainian film directors have shown their works in Beijing in at least a decade.
In recent years, a card game called “Dapang Egg” suddenly gained popularity in China, leading to various competitions. However, as the game became fashionable in all sectors, there were differing stances on “Dapang Egg” in official Chinese media. Recently, Beijing official media Beijing Youth Daily published three articles criticizing the trend of “universal Dapang Egg,” sparking counterattacks from several local official media, including the birthplace of the game, Jiangsu province.
In the tightly controlled environment with strict speech regulations, where most official media mainly rely on media outlets as the source of information, it is rare to see a sharp contrast on the same topic between local official media in the Chinese media circle, seemingly triggering internal disputes on the “Dapang Egg” issue.
Political analyst Zhang Tianliang in the United States recently stated in his self-media program that the surface-level dispute between Beijing Youth Daily and Jiangsu local media Xinhua Daily might actually reflect a power struggle within the top leadership of China. Zhang Tianliang said that Beijing is the political stronghold of the current Politburo Standing Committee member Cai Qi, the top propaganda director of the Chinese Communist Party. Cai Qi previously served as the Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee. The fact that local official media dared to rebut seems like a case of “the dog biting the owner.” However, this counterattack by local media indicates support from behind for the local government, and this support comes from none other than the Premier of the State Council of China, Li Keqiang.
Chen Pokong also told Epoch Times reporters that the changing attitudes of official Chinese media towards the “Dapang Egg” debate demonstrate political turmoil at the top levels of Chinese leadership. He said that usually, major public opinion orientations are decided by Xi Jinping, but the current situation does not appear to be orchestrated by Xi Jinping, indicating his unfavorable circumstances.